Love Isn't Logical
by DarkNinja1994
Summary: Hiyono is brutally assaulted and loses her voice. Ayumu wasn't there to protect her. In order to make things right again, he'll do everything it takes to track down the person who did this to her. But what will he do when he finds out who did it?
1. The Shooting

Ron-Angie Martin

**NOTE: **First of all, the title isn't permanent. I came up with some quickly. Second, I deleted my _Titanic_ fanfic because someone said some things about it that really bugged me, but I do see that they were only trying to help. I became self-conscious because of the comments and lost all my ideas except for the ending, and part of the middle. I will repost it later, when I think that the people will leave me alone. So now, in order to take time and cool off, and hopefully remember all my ideas, I'm going to work on my Spiral fanfiction for a while. Please enjoy.

"Pleeeeeeeeeeease, Ayumu? Play the piano for me just once?" Hiyono begged her friend. Ever since she had heard him play in the piano room from the hallway, she had always wanted to hear that majestic melody again. They were sitting in the newspaper room, just hanging out. Like they always did. Every single day. Ayumu just stared out the window while Hiyono was badgering him.

"Don't ignore me! I know what you're going to say, 'I quit because I'm not as good as my brother'. But for once, Ayumu, can't you just play for me? I know you practice when I'm not around! Hey, Ayumu! Are you even listening to me! Ayumu?" Truth be told, he wasn't listening. As much as he liked to listen to Hiyono, even though he never showed it, he was watching two people down on the ground. Whoever they were, they didn't seem to be very friendly with one another. There was something about them that drew his eye for trouble to them. One was a high school female student; the other was an adult male. The girl looked awfully familiar, but the newspaper room was high enough up and they were too far over for Ayumu to get a good look at the two.

_**WHAM**__**!**_

Hiyono pummeled him with one of her "Hiyono Punches". She used the teddy bear this time. The force of the blow sent Ayumu out of his chair and sprawled out onto the floor.

"Damn it, Hiyono! Why must you do that every time I don't pay attention to you?!" Ayumu said as he rubbed his head. She put away her bear puppet and cocked her head.

"You just answered your own question." As Ayumu scrambled back into his chair to see if the two people were still there, Hiyono peered outside as well.

"What's so interesting out here?" she questioned.

"Does that girl look familiar to you?" Ayumu asked.

"Hm…" Hiyono squinted. "It's hard to tell, but from here it looks like Ryoko." Ayumu's eyes grew wide.

"_If that's Ryoko, then it means something's probably going to go wrong for the Blade Children!"_ he though to himself.

"You'd better not be checking her out. Kousuke will kill you," Hiyono said with a large smile. Ayumu still stared out the window, mouth slightly opened. He couldn't take his eyes off the two for a single second. Something bad might happen. Ryoko took s step foreword, as if to challenge him, then took off running in the other direction. The man, who was maybe in his late 20's to early 30's, pulled something from his jacket.

"Hiyono, call Madoka!" Ayumu shouted as he kept watch. Startled, Hiyono obeyed. The man fired his gun three times, and Ryoko went down.


	2. Hospital Visit

Ron-Angie Martin

**NOTE: **There is vomiting in this chapter, so if you can't handle it, then don't read. I don't want you to flame me because you have a weak stomach.

_Two hours later_

Ryoko was rushed to the hospital immediately, where her condition was deemed critical. Other than that, no one knew anything else. Rio and Kousuke were at the hospital as soon as they heard the news. Neither of the two heard from Eyes.

"I have to see her, damn it!" Kousuke said, clenching his fists after the secretary told him for the umpteenth time no one could see her but family.

"I'm sorry, sir, but you can not go in there. For the last time, no one can see Ryoko Takamachi except for relatives. Are you a relative?" the receptionist smartly raised an eyebrow. Kousuke felt the knife handle inside his pocket. He'd like to slit this bitch's throat. He was about to pull it on her, when Rio grabbed his arm.

"Come along, Kousuke. We'll come see Ryoko when she's feeling better." Once they were out of earshot, she cuffed him on the ear.

"Kousuke, you idiot! What were you thinking, going to pull a knife on her? I had no idea you were so stupid! Just because you wanted to see Ryoko, who probably isn't even awake right now? Asazuki, you've gone insane." Gritting his teeth, Kousuke was preparing for a counter attack when Eyes stepped in through the doors.

"Eyes!" Rio instantly forgot her frustrations towards Kousuke the minute the teenage pianist sensation stepped into the room.

"Have you two been to see her yet?" he asked.

"No, the stupid bitch won't let us in," Kousuke said as he gestured to the secretary with his head.

"I'll take care of this." Eyes walked over to the woman, who was obviously star struck.

"M-m-Mr. Ru-Rutherford!" she stammered, addressing Eyes formally, though she was obviously twice his age. "I'm a big, no, huge fan of yours!"

"I'm here to see a Miss Ryoko Takamachi," he said without batting an eye. She looked out of the corner of her eye.

"Well, I'm not supposed to let anyone see her…" Eyes dropped a signed photo of himself onto her desk, which widened her eyes even further.

"Well, I don't think it would hurt anyone… She's in room 162." The receptionist never took her eyes off the picture.

"Thank you, Miss." Kousuke and Rio easily snuck past the woman, who was admiring her new autograph of Eyes Rutherford.

"Damn, Rutherford. Do you carry those fan pictures with you everywhere just to bribe people?" Kousuke asked with disgust in his voice.

"Sometimes. When I think it will come in handy."

"Ooh, can I have one? Pretty please, Eyes?" Rio begged. Eyes reached into his jacket and pulled out a signed picture and dropped it into Rio's waiting hands. "Thank you so much!" she squealed.

"_And she calls me obsessed,"_ Kousuke thought to himself. They reached Ryoko's room on the first floor, and went inside. The girl was hooked up to several machines, and was wearing a breathing mask.

"Poor Ryoko," Rio said sympathetically as she sat beside her friend. Naturally as always, Eyes looked on without showing any emotion at all. Kousuke himself almost lost it. He and Ryoko had been through so much together, and now he might lose her. It was more than he could bear. He took a few steps toward the door until he found the handle.

"I'll… I'll be back," he said to Eyes and Rio as he ran down the hall to the nearest restroom. As soon as he arrived, he locked himself in a stall and repeatedly vomited in the toilet. When he thought he had finished, he flushed, and rested his elbows on the seat and held his head between his hands.

"_Seeing her just lying there, practically lifeless,"_ Kousuke thought to himself, _"I never want to see her like that again. I just don't think I can handle it."_ As he pictured his childhood friend lying in her hospital bed, a second wave started. When the vomiting stopped again, he flushed and left the stall. Looking into the mirror, he realized he had better wipe his face and part of his shirt. In the middle of Kousuke's cleaning up, Eyes walked in.

"Rutherford, what are you doing here?"

"It's a bathroom, I have every right to be here." Eyes glanced down at Kousuke's green vomited covered shirt. "Are you feeling ill?"

"No, not anymore." Eyes handed a second paper towel to his rival. "Thanks." Kousuke washed his hands and cooled the back of his neck.

"Did you guys find out any news on Ryoko?"

"No, we're not even supposed to be down here, remember? We'd better get out of here soon. Ryoko's chart says that her doctor will be arriving shortly and we don't want to get caught, do we?"

"No, I guess not. Let's go." The two boys left the bathroom and continued down the hall towards Ryoko's hospital room. Kousuke stopped outside the door.

"You go ahead and grab Rio, I'll wait here." Eyes looked at him as if he was searching his soul. After a few seconds, it was if he had found the answer inside of Kousuke.

"OK, then." Eyes disappeared into the room. After a few seconds had gone by, there was very loud screaming coming from inside the room. Kousuke jumped into the doorway to see what was the matter. Ryoko had awakened and was shaking violently. The screaming had stopped. Rio pressed the nurse call button, and she and Eyes went for the door.

"We've got to go, we can't be here when the nurse gets here," Rio said as she tugged Kousuke's sleeve.

"Right." The three walked down the hall, as to not create suspicion that running would make. When they reached the lobby, the secretary called her goodbyes to Eyes.

"Come back anytime Mr. Rutherford! Hopefully on my shift!" The musician walked out the door with Kousuke and Rio without even glancing in her direction. Once outside, they split up. Kousuke and Rio had to go back to school, and Eyes had to go practice for his next concert. It was as if nothing had changed.


	3. Information

Ron-Angie Martin

**NOTE: **I've decided to keep the title, Love Isn't Logical. I like it very much. But who cares, because Kiyomi Takada is dead!! (does jig) In case you don't watch Death Note, it's a show about a guy who finds a notebook called "The Death Note" and if you write someone's name in it, they'll die. The main guy's name is Light, and he's a total douche bag. There's this guy after him named L, who is my favorite, but eventually gets killed by Light, which sends the series into five years later where Light rules the world. There's this girl that I hate on there named Kiyomi Takada, who I hate. Light has this girlfriend named Misa, who reminds me over myself, and Light, who reminds me of my old boyfriend, cheats on Misa with Kiyomi, who reminds me of my old boyfriend's current girlfriend. But he didn't really love Kiyomi, he was just using her. XD So Mello (a guy with great hair that stupid Kiyomi kills) kidnaps Kiyomi and locks her in the back of the truck and Light sets the truck on fire and she dies!! XD I was laughing hysterically the whole time it was going on. XD

Ayumu was sitting by the window again he held his head propped up by his elbow which was placed on the windowsill. Just thinking. Nothing more. Hiyono was watching him with a worried expression on her face. No doubt he was thinking about the man who shot Ryoko. He wouldn't rest until he solved this mystery just like all the others. Hiyono learned a long time ago to keep games and books in the newspaper room for instances like these. She pulled out her GameBoy and engrossed herself in a game of Pokemon.

"Hiyono?" Startled, she looked up. Ayumu had only recently started calling her by her name instead of "idiot girl" and she was still getting used to it. Besides that, he never ever spoke to her while he was thinking unless she said something to him. It was just unnatural.

"Yeah, Ayumu?" He turned from the window to face Hiyono. "Who do you think shot Ryoko?" Hiyono tapped her finger on her chin.

"Well, with everything that's gone on around here in the past year, I would have to say a Hunter." Ayumu smiled and looked downcast.

"Yeah, that's what I thought at first, too. But the Hunters are usually crafty and set up a bunch of traps to capture the Blade Children. Like the time you and Rio were kidnapped," Ayumu pointed out. Hiyono remembered. That was the single most frightening time of her life, though she tried hard not to show it. Not then, not now.

"Anyway, so I was thinking that since Ryoko didn't run away or try to get Kousuke or Rio's help, since she's against killing people head on, she most likely knew the culprit, which narrows down our suspect list by a lot." Hiyono frowned.

"Yeah, but there's only one problem with your theory." Ayumu did too.

"I know. Ryoko's in the hospital and in critical condition. There's no way we can talk to her. Kousuke and the others were probably able to sneak in and see her, but I doubt we will." Hiyono jumped up.

"I've got an idea!" she said with a large smile. "Why don't we just go ask the Blade Children if she said anything that might be helpful to us?" Ayumu cocked his head and looked at her as if she had just grown wings and were flying around the room.

"Are you nuts, Idiot Girl? Those Blade Children are nothing but trouble. If we go ask them for help, then they'll probably want us to do some sort of sick favor for them, and before you know it, we're involved with my sister and the police all over again. We just got out of all that trouble with that Kanone business; do you really want to go start something?" Hiyono sat back down in her chair and crossed her arms.

"Do you have any better ideas? If we wait until Ryoko is moved to a regular room and is allowed visitors, she may end up like Sonobe. The person who shot her may come back after her."

"Ah, but you forget the person who killed Sonobe was none other than Kousuke, who will never ever harm Ryoko. The guy who shot her may be different." But Ayumu knew this wasn't true. It was common knowledge that most criminals never left a job unfinished. Just as he had that thought, a rock flew through the newspaper room window. Ayumu turned his head to see who had thrown it, but he saw no one.

"_That's impossible! This room is on the second story! Someone would have to get very close to get it through here, and no one is fast enough to be gone in the short moments it took me to turn my head!"_ Ayumu thought to himself. Hiyono picked up the rock.

"Hey, there's a note!" She untied the piece of paper from the rock and read it out loud. "Stop this investigation, or there will be extreme consequences." Ayumu waved his hand.

"Please, like I haven't heard that one before. I survived a game against a crazy little girl and her partner with a bomb around my neck, I think I can handle this," Ayumu said, as he reminisced about the time Hiyono saved him from certain death in a life or death game against Rio and Kousuke. They exchanged a look.

"You know, maybe we'd better have a chat with Rio and Kousuke," Ayumu decided. The two stood up and walked out of the newspaper room. They found the two Blade Children talking in hushed tones in the school courtyard. Kousuke glared at them when he saw them.

"Little Narumi, Hiyoko," he said.

"URGH, FOR THE LAST TIME, IT'S HIYONO!!" Hiyono rolled up her sleeves and prepared to sock him with one of her infamous "Hiyono Punches", but stopped when Ayumu briefly touched her arm. He took a step forward.

"We figured that the two of you snuck into the hospital to see Ryoko. Are we correct?" The two Blade Children exchanged a glance. Rio gave him a challenging look.

"Maybe. Why do you want to know?" Rio already knew the answer. She knew what Ayumu was thinking sometimes even before he did himself. Ayumu half smiled.

"Well that answer pretty much tells me that you did," he said. "But seriously, if we're going to catch whoever did this to her, then you two need to tell me if she said anything to you or not." Kousuke got a violent look to him and got inches away from Ayumu's face.

"No, Ryoko didn't say anything! She's out cold wasting away in that damn hospital! She can't say anything! Go take your little girlfriend and go poke your nose in someone else's business!" Rio wore a worried expression on her face as she took Kousuke's arm and pulled him back.

"Little Narumi, Kousuke doesn't know anything. He was gone for most of the time we, Eyes included, were there. After a while, Eyes went to look for him, and I stayed with Ryoko." This was news to Kousuke. He looked at his partner in disbelief. Rio closed her eyes and clenched her fists as she shook from the memory.

"Ryoko's eyes began to flutter, and they opened a bit. She looked at me and said my name, so I knew she was aware of her surroundings. I asked her if she knew who shot her, and she said…" Rio shook her head. Ayumu knelt down on one knee so he was face to face with her.

"Come on, you gotta tell me what Ryoko said." Rio continued.

"It didn't make any sense. All she said was, 'J-J-X-N-S-B-J-B-M-B-Q-V-L-J'." Ayumu looked back to see if Hiyono was writing everything down. She was.

"What happened after that?"

"She started screaming," Kousuke said, the color drained from his face. Rio turned serious and fierce again and nodded.

"That's right. Eyes had just come back, and Ryoko started screaming like a banshee, so we hit the nurse call button and left as quickly as we could without being spotted." Ayumu stood back up.

"Thanks for sharing that with us." He and Hiyono left. When they arrived back at the newspaper room, Hiyono sat down at the computer.

"I'll have this code cracked if I have to stay here 'til morning!" she said and began typing away ferociously. Ayumu thanked her, settled down in a chair and took a nap.


	4. Hiyono's Misfortune

Ron-Angie Martin

**NOTE:** I would like to dedicate the rest of this fanfiction to Jordan Essex, a classmate of mine and one of the best kids ever put on this earth. Unfortunately, his life was cut short on Tuesday, June 24, 2008 at the young age of 14. I was proud to know him. May God rest his soul.

Hiyono blinked a couple of times and wiped her eyes on her sleeve. She checked the clock on the computer. 7:45 PM. It was awful late to be at school, but she had to crack that code. Fortunately, Hiyono's folks were out of town, she was an only child, and it was Friday night. So there were no problems. Ayumu had gone home 2 hours ago to start Madoka's dinner. The school had more than likely locked the school doors by now, but Hiyono was the school reporter after all. She had ways of sneaking in and out when she needed to. The only problem with this code was that it made no sense at all!

She had tried using almost every method she knew, and then some. At first it seemed like the type of code that was used for military letters on occasion. For example, if the letter used happened to be "T", the person would instead write the letter that would come before it. So instead of a "T", it would be an "S". But unfortunately, when Hiyono tried out that method, the strange code turned out to say, "I-I-W-O-R-A-I-A-L-A-P-U-K-I". So then she tried to reverse it, doing the letters that came after each one. But that made no sense either. Hiyono decided that it must be a complex code, and that was why she was still at the school well past her curfew.

"_I've come this far, I can't quit now. I have to help Ayumu in whatever way that I can,"_ she thought. Despite being book smart, Hiyono knew she didn't have the type of logic that Ayumu possessed. She wasn't physically strong, either. Because of that, she wanted to be as useful to him as she possibly could. Taking a sip of her soda, Hiyono leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes.

"I guess it wouldn't hurt to take a little break. I deserve it," she said to no one. As she scooted back and put her feet up on the desk, she heard some movement coming from outside the room.

"_The night janitors aren't here this late. Maybe a squirrel or some other little animal got inside." _Hiyono began to relax again. That is, until she heard footsteps coming from outside. _"That's definitely not an animal!"_ Hiyono readied her Hiyono Punch and ducked beneath the desk. The newspaper room door slid open. Hiyono curled herself into a tight ball and kept still. She was very flexible. A man, possibly in his late twenties to early thirties stepped inside. He was carrying a knife, which made Hiyono's eyes grow wide. The man took a glance at the computer. The computer! She had forgotten to exit out of the program before she hid.

"_This could be the guy who threw that rock,"_ Hiyono thought. _"If he sees the computer is on, then he'll know that I'm still here! And worse, I was on a code detector site. If he sees it, then he'll know that we're still investigating the shooting and try to kill me."_ It was times like these when she wished Ayumu was with her. Hiyono squeezed her eyes shut and said a quick prayer, asking God to not let the man find her. And if he should, to please not let him harm her.

"I know you're in here, little girl," the man said with a menacing chuckle. OK, so this was one of the bad guys. That still didn't mean he would find her. Wrong again. The man knelt down in front of the computer desk and gave Hiyono a crazy looking smile.

"So there you are, little girl. Why don't you come out and say hello to me?" Hiyono pressed her back firmly against the desk. There was no way she was letting him catch her. Willingly. "Come on, little girl, I'm not going to hurt you." There was still no response from her. The man grabbed her arm and pulled her out from under the desk with such a force Hiyono thought her arm would come off. He pulled her up so that his face was inches from hers. He was wearing a black ski mask from the nose up, so she couldn't see the better part of his face, but she saw his eyes. They were brown, yet full of spite.

"I heard that you're sticking your nose into business where it doesn't belong, little girl. I warned you and your little boyfriend to cut it out, but you didn't listen so now you're gonna pay!" He planted a kiss on the girl's mouth, and she slapped him as hard as she could. It was ten fold her strongest Hiyono Punch. The man rubbed his face, and returned the slap. Only much harder. But that was expected, seeing as he was much older than Hiyono, and stronger too.

"Little slut… I'll teach you to mess with me!" He kissed her again, only with much more ferocity. He held both her hands in only one of his, so this time she couldn't smack him. Nor could she break away. His other hand held the back of her head. Hiyono couldn't run away. He had her trapped.


	5. Hobo Wrestling

Ron-Angie Martin

**NOTE: **The chapter title doesn't have much to do with the chapter, aside from something Madoka says. I hope your summers are more interesting than mine. I've had nothing to do but write this fanfiction and watch Sailor Moon on youtube. Though I am going to Gettysburg/D.C. in 6 days, and after that I'm going to camp. And then I will be starting 8th grade. It'll be hard without Jordan. I'm gonna miss the way he would come to school wearing camo pants and jacket with army boots and march up and down the hall singing Citizen Soldier by Three Doors Down. We weren't really friends, more like acquaintances, but it'll still be hard.

"I'm home, Sis," Ayumu said as he closed the door to the apartment behind him. Madoka was totally focused on one of her new video games.

"Yeah, hi." Ayumu took off his jacket and sorted through the mail. Most of it was bills, which he would have to take care of with Madoka's money. His sister in law was ten years his senior, and still acted like a bratty child most of the time. Except for when she was at work. Madoka Narumi was one of the most respected people at the office. The last envelope in the pile was addressed to Madoka. It was from some law firm.

"_Is Madoka suing someone?"_ Ayumu thought to himself. It was really none of his business, but he tore open the envelope and read the letter. It was a divorce form!

"MADOKA!" Ayumu shouted as he tackled her, knocking the game controller from her hands.

"Ah, damn it, Ayumu! You made me break my concentration!" He held her down and shoved the divorce papers in her face.

"What the hell is this, Mrs. Narumi?!" Ayumu demanded. Madoka's eyes grew wide. She managed to kick her brother off.

"What are you doing going through my mail?!" Ayumu's face turned serious.

"Just tell me why you're divorcing my brother?" Madoka looked away. "Well? How are you gonna explain yourself this time, Madoka?" She crossed her arms.

"Look Ayumu. It's been three years, and Kiyotaka's never shown any sign of returning." She faced her brother in law, with a certain ferocity in her voice. "I've got my whole life ahead of me, damn it! I can't be married to someone who just up and disappears for three years with no word at all!" Madoka collapsed to her knees and burst into tears.

"I never wanted a divorce," she whispered. "Kiyotaka sent me a letter about a week ago saying that he thought it was best if both of us moved on. That was it. No soothing words." Ayumu went to her and put his arm around his sister.

"It's OK, Sis. I'm sorry I got mad at you. And read your mail." She sniffled a little.

"You know, just because your brother and I are splitting up doesn't mean you and I aren't still a family." Madoka hugged Ayumu.

"Are you going back to using your maiden name?" The two pulled out of the hug. Madoka studied the wedding ring on her finger.

"Nah. I'm gonna keep Narumi to avoid confusion." Madoka pulled off her wedding ring and tossed it out the window. Ayumu watched.

"Are you sure that was the smartest idea? I mean, you could sell that thing…" Madoka's eyes widened.

"You're right! I'll be right back!" Madoka ran out the door without even bothering to grab her jacket. Ayumu shook his head. His sister could be so stupid sometimes. While Madoka was out searching for her lost wedding ring, he began to cook dinner.

--

Two hours later, Madoka had returned with the ring, but her hair and clothes covered in dirt and she was panting heavily. Ayumu had just set the table.

"What happened to you?" Madoka gave him a harsh look.

"Some drunk hobo found my wedding ring. I hade to wrestle it away from him." Madoka lifted up her left arm to show numerous claw marks, then pointed to a gash on her cheek.

"Man, you look terrible."

"Oh yeah?" she said as she took a seat at the table. "You should see the hobo!"


	6. The Canary Stops Singing

Ron-Angie Martin

**NOTE: **This is possibly the best chapter I've written for a fanfic EVER!! XD Even more so than the final chapter of my Naruto fanfic, That Which Does Not Kill Us. Sasuke and Sakura have a baby, and then they both die and Naruto and Hinata have to raise it. Read the fanfic, I guarantee it will be worth your time, even though I just spoiled the ending for you!! XD

"Hey, Ayumu. I don't hear you talk about that Hiyono girl anymore," Madoka said as she stuffed her face full of curry. "Come to think of it, you don't really talk much about any girls anymore! Oh Ayumu, you've just started your second year of high school, and you still don't have a girlfriend. How sad."

"I don't have a girlfriend because I don't need one. I have enough to think about just making sure you don't starve to death. Even though you're old enough to be making your own dinner now." Madoka dramatically sighed.

"Aw, but if you don't settle down with some girl soon, I may never live to see my grandchildren!" Ayumu blinked and flicked a piece of rice at her with his fork.

"First of all, you're not my mother so any children I have will not be your grandchildren. Second of all, what business is it of yours whether I have a girlfriend or not?"

"I guess it's not really, but it's nice to know what's going on in the world of my little brother once and a while." Madoka thought for a minute, and then pointed an accusing finger at him.

"Wait a minute! You're snooping around in that Ryoko girl's shooting aren't you?! I knew you were up to something! Damn it, Ayumu! Can't you just leave something like this alone just for ONCE?! I may be your sister, but I'm not your babysitter. Can't you join some after school club so you won't get into anymore trouble?" They had finished dinner, and Ayumu prepared to clear away the dishes.

"No can do, Sis. I'm involved now, and I can't back out. Hiyono's still at school as far as I know. We received some information in the form of a code that could be useful." Ayumu had become more open with Madoka over the past year.

"You left Hiyono at the school alone with a murderer on the lose? Gee Ayumu, that was real smart," she said with a tone of sarcasm.

"Hey, Hiyono's a tough girl. She can fend for herself."

"Yeah, just like the time she 'let' that crazy redhead kidnap her and try to push her out a window."

"Actually, she did let him do that. Besides, she was never in any real danger. He wouldn't have done it."

"But what about the time she and that other Blade Brat got kidnapped and were locked in that hospital and you and those other two kids had to rescue them? Did she let herself get caught that time?"

"Well, know…" Madoka sighed.

"The point is, you should probably go check up on her. Go on, I'll finished the dishes." Ayumu dried his hands and headed for the door.

"OK, I'll be back around 9." Nine o'clock was in an hour. He probably wouldn't even need that long. The streets were mostly empty. It was getting late, so people were home with their families. Save for the teens. It was Friday night, after all, so they were in restaurants and various other date places. Ayumu himself had never been on a real date before. He passed a couple holding hands, and heard the girl say,

"Oh look, he's all alone. How sad."

But the comment didn't bother Ayumu. He didn't need a girlfriend. At least, that's what he'd always told himself after stupid Kiyotaka stole his first crush. He arrived at Tsukiyomi High School at 8:15, and already sensed that something was wrong. He didn't know what, but something inside made him uneasy. Quickly as he could, he ran to the back, for the front doors were locked. He hopped the fence to the backside of the campus, and made his way to the back doors, which they kept unlocked for people who desperately needed to get inside. Well, Ayumu did.

He was in such a hurry, that he tripped running up the stairs to the newspaper room. Ayumu quickly picked himself up and hurried to his destination. As soon as he got there, he threw open the door. The window was wide open, and Hiyono was sitting against the wall, holding her arm. He hurried over to her and knelt in front of her.

"Hiyono, are you OK?" That was a stupid question. He could tell just by looking at her, she wasn't. Dried tears stained the poor girl's face.

"Hiyono, talk to me!" He grabbed her shoulders and shook her a bit. Her eyes didn't seem to focus on anything. "I can't help you if you don't talk to me." Hiyono's eyes focused on his, and she fell into his arms and began to cry hysterically. This was all knew to Ayumu, who had never dealt with crying women before. Except for Madoka, but she usually threw things at him when she got emotional. He hugged her, and patted her on the back. He didn't know what had gotten her so upset, but it must have been terrible. After Hiyono stopped crying and began to sniffle, Ayumu asked to see her arm. She had to use her other arm to hold it up. It was twisted, and stuck out at a strange angle. It was probably pulled out of socket.

"Hold on, I'll call Madoka so she can drive you to the hospital, OK?" Ayumu couldn't very well call an ambulance, because it would attract a lot of attention. He didn't know much about girls, but he was sure that was the last thing Hiyono wanted right now. He walked her down the stairs, and around to the front. She couldn't climb the fence in her condition, so they had to take time and unlatch the gate. Madoka was there in a matter of minutes.

"Hey, what happened?" she asked as Ayumu and Hiyono piled into the car.

"Don't know. She won't say." Hiyono opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out.

"_Can_ you talk?" Ayumu questioned. Hiyono smiled sadly, and shook her head. A few tears began to trickle down her face.

"We'll find out what's wrong when we get to the hospital. The doctors should be able to tell us something," Madoka said. When they did arrive, they were able to see Hiyono immediately. As expected, Ayumu and Madoka were told to wait in the waiting room. Madoka was able to busy herself with random magazines, but Ayumu could only stare at the floor. He had never seen Hiyono anything less than one hundred percent perky. Even when she was in grave danger, she always wore that smile of hers. What on earth could have possibly made her lose that smile? About an hour later, a brunette, female doctor, about Madoka's age, came out into the waiting room.

"Is there an Ayumu Narumi out here?" he asked.

"Uh, yeah, that's me."

"Please follow me."

"Be right back, Sis," Ayumu said as he followed the young doctor inside. They came into her office.

"Please, have a seat," the doctor said, motioning towards the two chairs in front of her desk. "I'm Dr. Amane, by the way."

"What's wrong with Hiyono? Where is she?"

"Now, now, Mr. Narumi, slow down. We need to talk about this. No need to jump right into things."

"Please, I have to know. What's wrong with her?" Dr. Amane sighed and looked Ayumu straight in the eye.

"She's not speaking, but I'm sure you know that."

"Why isn't she?"

"She _can't_ speak. Hiyono wrote down on a piece of paper that you would be the one to talk to, since her parents are away. We gave her some pills that made her drowsy so we could run some tests on her. She should be waking up just about now. I don't know if her silence is permanent. When it happens to other girls, sometimes they get they're voice back, and sometimes they don't. It all depends on the girl." Ayumu looked into Dr. Amane's eyes.

"What exactly did happen to Hiyono?" The doctor sighed.

"Ayumu… Hiyono was raped."


	7. Moving In

Ron-Angie Martin

**NOTE: **Sorry if this chapter's not up to par. I didn't get much sleep last night. I stayed up until 1 AM because I was watching Death Note (recorded), which I only watch in the dark. The episode was 1.28 and it was intensely terrifying! Especially at the part where Near starts talking really fast and then he screams "HE'S HERE!" and you see Mikami peeking in the door and writing down everyone's name and screaming, "DELETE!" I almost had to hide under my blanket because it was so scary!! And then I just HAD to watch the new episode of In Plain Sight. I've been on the look out for MaryxMarshall moments!! :D I love MaryxMarshall. Almost as much as I love AyumuxHiyono! I don't like Kiyotaka much, and it shows. Especially in the later chapters, but you'll find out what I mean by that later. Maybe Madoka can have a man bashing party with all of her single friends!! XD Is Wataya single? I think he mentioned his wife in an episode, but we'll say he's not because I need him to be single for now. It's a SECRET!!

The words hit Ayumu like a bullet.

"Raped? What do you mean?" Of course he knew what Dr. Amane meant, he just couldn't believe it.

"Someone assaulted her sexually. Whoever it was must have hurt her arm in the process. I thought it was just dislocated at first, but I ran an x-ray just to be sure, and it _is_ broken. She'll have to where a cast for a few months until it heals." A petite nurse opened the door.

"Dr. Amane, Hiyono Yuizaki has woken up."

"Right then. Thank you, Lydia. Come, Mr. Narumi, Hiyono will want to see you." Still shaken up, Ayumu got up and followed Dr. Amane to another room. Hiyono was sitting on the table, looking at her feet. She smiled when she saw Ayumu.

"Hi, Ayumu!" she mouthed, but of course, no words came out. But she had said that phrase so often, he didn't need the words to know what she was saying. He forced a smile.

"Hey." Hiyono was totally different than when he found her back at the school. Ayumu looked at her cast. Dr. Amane, and the nurse, Lydia, had already signed it.

"I'll be right back, I have to speak with Ayumu's sister about a few things." She left, and Ayumu and Hiyono were alone. He turned to her.

"Hiyono… I'm sorry I wasn't there to help you. I promise, I'll never let it happen again." Hiyono picked up a pad of paper and a pen and began to write down a message. After she was done, she handed it to Ayumu.

"_Don't you dare blame yourself for what happened. What's done is done. We can't change it."_

"I know, but no matter what you say, I'm always going to feel responsible." He sat next to her on the examination table and stared at the wall. "When I reached the school, I got a feeling… and I assumed the worst. I nearly broke my neck trying to get up there to you. When I finally did find you, the way you looked… I was scared." Hiyono thought for a minute, and then began writing on her note pad, ever so slowly. She was about to hand him the note, when Dr. Amane returned.

"You can go home now, Hiyono. Everything's OK now," the doctor said with a warm smile.

"_No, everything it not OK,"_ thought Ayumu. Hiyono bowed to thank Dr. Amane, and then she and Ayumu walked down the hall and back to the waiting room. Madoka was already ready to go.

"Oh, hey you two." Hiyono smiled and waved with her good arm. "Come on, let's go get some coffee!"

"Coffee?" Madoka's eyes flickered, and Ayumu knew what that meant. She was trying to tell him to take it easy for a while. Everyone had had a hard day.

"Right. Want to go out, Hiyono?" She had been half day dreaming, and his question caught her by surprise. Then she realized that Ayumu was talking about the three of them going out to grab some coffee, not asking her on a date. Hiyono nodded.

"OK then!" Madoka said. "I know a super place that Wataya and I go to all the time, and…"

"Sis, we're both minors," Ayumu said as he rolled his eyes. Hiyono thudded him on the shoulder to remind him that she had turned 18 last month. "OK, _I'm_ a minor."

--

It had been decided at "coffee" that Hiyono would stay with Madoka and Ayumu until her parents returned. Which might be a while. Her parents were workaholics and were usually out on business trips. Well, they would just have to find out about Hiyono's accident when they got home. Now, it was past midnight. Madoka had gone to bed because she had to work in the morning, but Ayumu and Hiyono were on the couch talking.

"What were you going to tell me at the doctor's office?" Ayumu asked Hiyono after a long awkward pause after their conversation about a drunken old man they saw outside the coffee shop.

"_What do you mean?"_ Hiyono wrote.

"Right after I told you… That I was scared when I saw you." She blushed and looked away. "It's no big deal, I was just wondering what you said."

"_It doesn't matter now."_ They sat in silence for a moment. That is, until Ayumu tried to lean forward to see what Hiyono had written. He couldn't see it, because it was on the back of the paper they were using now. Hiyono saw what he was trying to do, tore the paper from the pad, and wadded it into a ball. Ayumu sighed and leaned on the couch. Out of habit, he happened to rest his arm on the back of the couch. He didn't realize he was putting his arm around Hiyono.

"You're never gonna tell me, are you?" She shook her head. "OK, I respect that." He went off to his room and shut the door. Hiyono put the wad of paper in the trash. There was no way she could ever let Ayumu see that paper. She didn't even know why she wrote it. Hiyono returned to the couch, and went to sleep.


	8. Witness

Ron-Angie Martin

**NOTE: **I'm back from my vacation in Gettysburg!! :D While I was there, I saw my first full body (actually, from the waist up) ghost, who happened to be a certain Confederate General (details later), fell in love with a leprechaun (by that, I mean a guy from Ireland), and stayed in a haunted bed and breakfast, which I didn't know was haunted until the lady who owned it told me! :( Apparently, some old man died in MY bedroom, or at least that's just what Carol thinks. Once when Mom and Dad were downstairs and I was alone, I heard someone shuffling around outside, and I assumed it was one of the Irish guys next door. But I found out later that they were all on a ghost tour, so it couldn't have been them! And there was this one time in the shower when I heard someone walking around outside the door, and there was a loud thud. I freaked out, and said, "I don't want any trouble! Please, just go away!" And then the noises stopped! :O Weird stuff happens in Gettysburg…

It was 9:00, and the Blade Children were all hanging around Eyes's apartment. All except for Ryoko, that is. They didn't really know what to say to each other. All three of them had witnessed something terrible. It wasn't like there was anything they could do, was there? It was better if they had just stayed out of the way. No reason to drag their reputation through the mud anymore than they already were. But still, the three of them couldn't help but feel a bit guilty. Kousuke broke the silence.

"We can't blame ourselves for what happened. If anything, we should blame Little Narumi. He wasn't there to do anything." Rio glared at him. She knew he was right. They were Blade Children. They weren't supposed to help people. But there was still something that didn't seem right. They had worked along side Hiyono and Ayumu before, but promised to remain enemies afterwards. And yet… Eyes got up from the couch and began to play Moonlight Sonata on his piano.

--

Ryoko tossed and turned in her sleep. A certain nightmare had been plaguing her ever since she had been shot and ended up in the hospital. It was like a reenactment of the moment she was shot. She knew who had shot her. She'd known him for a long while now. Ryoko had thought they were friends, but he betrayed her.

A few months ago, she had accidentally overheard a plot threatening to destroy the Blade Children. She had been walking down the street, and heard him talking to someone on a cell phone in a dark alley.

"_It's time I've wiped the Blade Children off the face of this world," he had said. Ryoko stood just outside the wall, listening in for just a bit. When he hung up, she confronted him._

"_What do you think you're doing?"_

"_Ah, Ryoko. I guess it's only a matter of time before you found out my plan." He stepped further into the shadows. _

"_You were going to betray us! All of us!" Ryoko said, fists clenched. He shrugged._

"_So I was. You can join me, Ryoko. You were never really the Blade Children type. If you join me, I won't have to kill you." Ryoko scoffed._

"_What about Kousuke and the others? They're my friends. You just expect me to join you and let them die?" _

"_Tsk, tsk, you make it sound like such a bad thing." He reached out and put a hand on Ryoko's shoulder. "I'd hate to see such a pretty thing like you die in vain. Won't you please join me, Ryoko?" She slapped his hand away._

"_I'd never join you. Never!" Ryoko took off running down the sidewalk._

"_Just remember this!" he called after her. "If you tell anyone about our meeting here to day, I'll kill everyone sooner!" _

His threat was followed by the sound of maniacal laughter, which haunted Ryoko to the present day. She couldn't tell anyone about the secret plot that was devised against them. Not even Kousuke. She told him everything. They were best friends, and maybe even more. Even though she was asleep, Ryoko sensed his presence along with Rio's and Eyes's in her room hours after that traitor had shot her. She tried to make herself wake up so she could talk to them, but she couldn't, no matter how hard she tried. Then Kousuke left, and after a while, so did Eyes. Ryoko began to be afraid that she wouldn't be able to tell them to be aware of Him. She then managed to wake herself up. However, she couldn't control her body very well. Ryoko had thought of a code much earlier to say than His actual name, in case he should find out.

"J-J-X-N-S-B-J-B-M-B-Q-V-L-J," Ryoko managed to sputter before she began to shake violently. Rio pushed the nurse call button, and ran. A nurse came in moments later, and shoved a needle into Ryoko's arm to make her quiet down. All was well after that. Ryoko just hoped the Blade Children could crack the code in time.

--

Kousuke was walking down the lamp lit street, hands in pockets. As usual, he bore a scowl on his face.

"Damn it, Ryoko. Why'd you have to get yourself shot?" He looked up towards the star filled sky, tears beginning to brim in his eyes. He hadn't cried since his mom died when he was little. Did Ryoko really mean that much to him? Of course she did. They'd been best friends since they were six. Although lately, Kousuke had been beginning to think of her on more of a romantic level. But Ryoko would never love him back. Never in a million years. She was more likely to date the jocks of Tsukiyomi. Her own kind.

Kousuke reached the park where he'd been camping out in the play tunnel for the last couple of weeks. He was a nomad; he moved from home to home quite often. Despite them being rivals, Kousuke knew Eyes would allow him to stay in his apartment for a while. But he would never go crawling on his knees to him. Not even Rio would do that. Kousuke didn't actually know where Rio had been living, but he did know that it would be something similar to Kousuke's home. The Blade Children were all orphans. Ryoko had been lucky enough to be adopted, and Eyes became a piano protégée, so he was taken care of as well. Kousuke couldn't stand standing around feeling guilty about Hiyono, so he left the apartment.

As far as he knew, Rio was still back there hoping Eyes would show a little more affection for her. She had been in love with the guy ever since she blew herself up and he brought her melons when she was in the hospital. It made Kousuke sick to see her chase after him all the time. The same with Hiyono and Narumi Jr. Anyone could see there was a connection between the too. Anyone except Little Narumi, that is.

Kousuke crawled inside his tunnel and laid on his back with his arms folded behind his head. He hoped Ryoko would get well soon, more than anything.


	9. The Great Escape

Ron-Angie Martin

**NOTE: **If you think you know who done it, PLEASE DON'T SAY ANYTHING!! I can't stress how annoying it is when someone just blurts out and says who it is and ruins it for everyone else. On , I accidentally ruined The Deathly Hallows for someone, and Bryson, my best buddy in the whole world, ruined the Death Note series finale for me. OWIE!! Sorry, I just got new brackets put on my braces and they really, really, really hurt bad!! This is completely off subject and random, but I'll bet most of you think I'm in my mid to late teens. HA! I'm only 13.5!! I'm also very lazy, and a big baby. I cry when my braces hurt, but yet I barely flinched the time my buddy Savannah B. accidentally smacked me in the face with a golf club (and gave me a black eye for a week), which is why I hate Putt-Putt Golfing more than ever. I hated it before because it was boring, and now I hate it because it's dangerous!! The reason I can write romance/tragedy/drama stories as good as I do (oh yeah, I also have a big ego :P) is because I fell in love with a guy I'd known since I was 4, and he told me he loved me back, but then a couple of days later, he said he was just kidding, he never loved me, which totally killed our friendship, and so I get off by writing these terrible fanfics. IF THEY I CAN'T BE HAPPY, NEITHER CAN THEY!!

Ryoko woke up and glanced at the clock at the wall. It was shortly past midnight. She felt her body for the bullet hole. There were none. But there was a scar where the doctors had sewn it up. And there was only one. There had been three shots, but only the last one had hit Ryoko. He never missed his target. She knew that. He had only been wanted to maim her, not kill her. Shake her up a bit. Ryoko decided she couldn't let that get to her now. She had to warn the others.

Climbing out of bed, Ryoko winced at the pain and wrapped her arm around her side where he had hit her. She was going to have to work through the pain. Getting dressed wasn't such an easy task, but Ryoko knew the fate of the Blade Children rested in her hands. She smirked as she thought that. "The fate of the Blade Children rests in your" was always a term used on Ayumu. Apparently, he was supposed to be the one to deliver them from the Hunters.

"_Maybe that's true, but not today,"_ Ryoko said as she finished dressing and stepped out into the hall. The hospital halls were crawling with doctors and nurses, but they all seemed to be too busy to notice Ryoko. If Rio could sneak out of the hospital after she tried to explode herself, then Ryoko could do it with just a bullet wound. Luckily, her room was on the first floor, and she didn't have to bother with stairs or elevators. When she reached the lobby, the receptionist was distracted by chatting away on her phone about how Eyes Rutherford came in for a visit. Ryoko had no problem sneaking by her and getting to the main door.

"_I'll have to thank Eyes for stopping by,"_ she thought with a grin. Ryoko pushed open the door to the street. Cars raced past, even though it was very late at night. But that didn't matter now. She had to find Kousuke. He didn't want her to know where he lived, but she knew, just the same. He was afraid that she would look down on him for living inside a child's toy tunnel, but she didn't care. Not in the slightest.

The park was only a few blocks away. Ryoko stumbled down the street. The pain was beginning to get to her.

"_Just a little bit farther,"_ she urged herself on. When she reached the edge of the park, she was about ready to collapse. She could see the tunnel. If only she could make it in time…

--

Kousuke rolled over onto his stomach. He hadn't got a wink of sleep the entire time he'd gotten home. And that was nearly two hours ago. He just couldn't get Ryoko out of his mind. He looked up and saw her, holding her side and stumbling across the park trying to reach him. Kousuke scrambled out of the tunnel and ran to her.

"Ryoko! You idiot, what are you doing out of the hospital?!" She looked as if she was about to pass out. Kousuke put both hands on Ryoko's shoulders to steady her.

"I… have to warn… you…" she said breathlessly.

"What are you talking about? Warn me about what?"

"He's coming… He wants to kill us all…" She mumbled some words, but he couldn't make them out. She was beginning to become delirious.

"Ryoko? Hey!" Ryoko lost consciousness and fell into Kousuke's arms. "Come on, snap out of it!" He tried to gently shake her awake, but it was no use.

"Geez, what am I supposed to do now?" He thought it over, and decided it would probably be best for Ryoko to spend the night with him. He couldn't very well take her back to the hospital, because the secretary would definitely remember him and give him a rough time. Kousuke dragged her back to his tunnel. It was barely wide enough to have both of them side by side, but it worked. They were awfully packed tight, though. So Kousuke turned both of them on their sides, and there was much more room. It was awkward, but it would have to do.

Kousuke had never been this close to Ryoko in the entire time he had known her. Her chest rose and fell and she slept. A few pieces of caramel colored hair fell into her eyes. Kousuke reached out and brushed it away before lightly kissing her on the forehead.

"Goodnight, my angel."


	10. Dreaming Out Loud

Ron-Angie Martin

**NOTE:** You know, I felt weird saying "Goodnight, my angel" at the end of the last chapter, because every time someone I know (most recently my friend, Jordan) dies, in my diary, I draw a picture of a tombstone, write their name on it, the year of birth and death, and write "Goodnight, my angel" below it. You're probably thinking, "But Ryoko didn't die!" Or did she?! Nah, she didn't. But maybe she did? Maybe she didn't? I tell no secrets! Stay tuned for Chapter 11 to find out! :P Hey, did any of you guys see the Death Note series finale?! It was totally awesome!! To sum it up, there was a lot of shouting, everyone went insane, and then everyone died. Yup. To say that in a more detailed way, Near and Light got into a big argument because Near accused Light of being the Kira, and Light was all like, "Nuh-uh!" Even though he was. Then everyone turned on him, and he went insane and started laughing like a crazy person, then Matsuda, who is usually so cute and sweet, shoots Light repeatedly with his pistol. And Aizowa and Ide have to restrain him, because Matsuda has also gone completely insane. Then it was revealed that it was actually Mikami who killed Kiyomi, and then Light, who is now full of lead, scrambles out the door. But he only gets as far as the stairs to his and Misa's apartment. And as he is slowly bleeding to death, he sees an apparition of L. And then Ryuk decides that he can't wait any longer for Light to die, so he kills him on the spot. And then Mikami freaks out because he doesn't want to go to jail and stabs himself in the chest. Then it's all over, and in the credits, you see Misa all dressed in black standing over the safety rail of her and Light's apartment. It doesn't show it in the anime, but in the manga she commits suicide by hanging herself in the closet because she can't live without Light. … I have Ebony and Ivory stuck in my head. XD

Rio was being lulled to sleep by the sound of Eyes's piano. It was such a gorgeous melody. She laid down on his couch and began to relax. And as she slept, she began to dream. In her fantasy world, she was watching Eyes play his piano. Looking down at herself, Rio realized that she was wearing a red ball gown that went to down to her shins. Despite being sort of tomboyish, Rio sort of like the dress. Her hair, however, was still in those little girl like pigtails.

Eyes stopped playing his piano and walked over to her. He was dressed in a white tuxedo, which matched his hair.

"My lady," he said in his British accent as he kissed her hand. Rio felt her face go red. "Would you care to dance with me?" She glanced over at the empty piano seat.

"But there's no music now." Eyes snapped his fingers, and the lovely music started again.

"Wow, how did you do that?" He leaned down and whispered into Rio's ear.

"As long as you believe there's music, they're will be music." He then put his hand around Rio's waist and pulled her close to him, and then took her hand in his free one. They danced for a while until the song ended. Then Eyes kneeled in front of her so that they were eye to eye.

"Rio, I've been meaning to tell you for a long time. I love you." Rio's eyes began to sparkle.

"I love you too." He leaned in to kiss her, but Rio was jolted awake before their lips touched.

"Hey, you fell asleep." Eyes said. She sat up and made a face at him.

"Aw, why'd you have to wake me up for?! I was having the best dream ever and you spoiled it!!" Eyes raised his eyebrows.

"The best dream you ever had you say?" Rio nodded.

"The best one ever." Eyes folded his arms across his chest.

"Are you aware that you talk in your sleep?" Rio's eyes grew wide and blinked. Then came that horrid awkward silence, which lasted for two minutes. Two minutes of staring at the person who she'd accidentally just confessed her love to in a dream. Then she slid off the couch and headed towards the door.

"Well, it's late. I'd better get going." Eyes watched until Rio's back was turned and she was about to close the door behind her.

"I love you, too." She stood still for a few seconds, then pulled the door shut.

--

Rio was careful to make sure she was out of the apartment complex before she began to cheer and dance about. She was afraid that Eyes would hear her. But it was so hard to contain her joy. She felt like all her emotions were inside a glass jar with a lid on top, and all those feelings inside were about to explode. Unfortunately, Eyes, being a celebrity, lived on the top floor, so she had to wait an awful long time before she reached the street. But when she did, it was worth it. The minute Rio's foot touched the sidewalk outside, the happiness began.

--

Eyes Rutherford was always careful to remain calm and cool in any given situation. However, he'd never been told "I love you" by anyone except for his mother, and she'd been dead for several years, and that was completely different. Of course, he didn't jump around and dance like he was watching Rio do on the street right now, but he felt like her could. So Eyes returned to his beloved piano. But instead of the sad, mournful sounds he used to play, Eyes began to write a new song. And it was all for her.


	11. Saturday Morning

Ron-Angie Martin

**NOTE: **Good grief, I'm exhausted! I've spent practically all day practicing the Lucky Star Sailor Fuku Dance just so me and Bryson, my best buddy, would have something to wow people with when we go to camp on Sunday! If you want to see what we're doing, go to youtube and type in Lucky Star Dance English and click on the one by MilkyCabbage. It took me a day and a half to learn ALL the words, which sound like a drunk kindergartener wrote them (especially the part about "disintegrating meteors forcing you to sing and dance"), and ALL of the steps, which is really hard too! You'll see what I mean when you see it. I filmed myself dancing it, but it doesn't look as good without Bryson. :( I'm doing the part of Kagami, the lavendar haired girl with long pigtails, and she's Konata, the girl with long blue hair. The other two girls don't really matter that much except for at the beginning, but I'm also Tsukasa, the other girl with lavendar hair, only short (she is Kagami's twin), and Bry is Miyuki, the girl with long pink hair. By the way, I've decided that you can wait until chapter 12 to find out if Ryoko survived the night. ;) Come to think of it, that could be a while, because on Sunday I'm leaving for camp for 5 days! Good luck to ya! XD

Hiyono woke up the next morning slightly confused.

"_Where am I?"_ she mouthed. Her voice still had not returned. That's when it all came back to her, the horrible events of last night. Her rape, the hospital visit, losing her voice… The only good thing about it was that Ayumu and Madoka had been kind enough to welcome her into their home. It was also the only time Hiyono had ever spent the night at Ayumu's. Though she couldn't really think of a reason that she would, either. But she had something more important on her mind at the moment. Hiyono quickly dressed and began to braid her hair. Ayumu came out of his bedroom with a yawn just as she finished tying the last ribbon.

"Good morning," he said sleepily. She smiled and waved back at him. "What do you want for breakfast? Madoka'll eat later. She's always late for work as it is." Hiyono dived for her notepad and pen and began scrambling down food items. She handed it to Ayumu, who skimmed over it.

"Damn, you sure eat a lot for a girl." Hiyono reached for her bear puppet, which was lying in front of the couch and gave him a good sock on the shoulder.

"Geez, that hurt!" he said as he rubbed the place where she hit him. "You didn't even give me a warning that time!" Ayumu wished he could take the words back as soon as he said it, Hiyono looked away, hurt, but quickly turned back with her cheerful smile.

"I... I'm sorry… I…"

"_No worries, Ayumu!" _she wrote on her note pad. _"You can make it up to me by starting on breakfast!"_ He nodded. Hiyono sat on the couch and began to watch Saturday morning cartoons. Ayumu was deep in thought as he flipped a pancake.

"_I can't believe I said that to her… After all she went through last night…"_ He scooped some scrambled eggs onto a plate, and set it on the table. He paused for a minute to watch Hiyono laughing silently at some cartoon. Then he did something he hadn't done for a while. Smiled.

"_How is it that she manages to smile through it all?"_ Ayumu finished cooking, and then went to wake up Madoka. He knocked three times on the door.

"Rise and shine, Princess!" He heard something being thrown at the door, most likely a pillow. "Don't take it out on me. If you went to bed earlier, you wouldn't be this grump in the morning." Ayumu turned to the real princess.

"Hey, it's time for breakfast." Hiyono almost looked like a puppy, the way she turned around, eyes widened and mouth watering at the sight of Ayumu's delicious food. She moved to the table so fast, Ayumu didn't even see her move. Hiyono scribbled on her notepad.

"_Oh, this looks __**SOOOO**__ delicious!! Thank you, Ayumu!!" _

"No problem. Just eat it, before it gets cold." She had no problem with that. Her food was gone before Ayumu even finished half his plate. Hiyono used a whole page of her little notepad for her next sentence.

"_**OH WOW!! THAT WAS EVEN TASTIER THAN IT LOOKED!!**__"_

"Glad you liked it. But you know, you shouldn't eat that fast. You're going to get sick. Or fat, like Madoka." Madoka, who was on her way out the door, heard him.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?!" She tackled him from his chair and pinned him to the ground. Ayumu hadn't realized she was within earshot.

"I didn't say anything!"

"Don't play games with me! I heard what you said!"

"Gee, I wonder what you're boss will say if he finds out you're late for work," Ayumu said motioning towards the clock with his head. Madoka had both his arms pinned. "You'll have to tell him you were murdering your poor little brother, and I don't think that will go over well." She gave a menacing growl, then let him go.

"You've won this time, little brother, but I WILL get you next time." She jetted out the door after making her threat. Ayumu stood up and brushed himself off. Hiyono had been watching this whole time.

"_Are morning like this always this crazy at your house?" _she wrote.

"Nah," Ayumu said as carried Hiyono's plate to the sink. "They're usually much worse."

--

During the remainder of breakfast, Hiyono went back to watching cartoons while Ayumu's mind was hard at work.

"_Hiyono was working on cracking that stupid code last night when it happened. It's possible she got some sort of lead. But.. is it too soon to ask her about it?"_ Though he very badly wanted to find out who had done this terrible crime to her, he decided it would be best if he waited a few more days. Despite her warm smiles and cheery outlook on life, she was only human, after all. After finishing the dishes, Ayumu joined her on the couch.

"What are you watching? Looks kinda strange…" Hiyono gave him an "I can't believe you just asked me that" look.

"_Haven't you ever heard of SpongeBob SquarePants?!"_ It was all Ayumu could do not to burst out laughing.

"SpongeBob SquarePants? What kind of a stupid name is that?" Hiyono sighed and shook her head. Truth be told, Ayumu actually hadn't hurt of the talking yellow sponge. Even as a kid, cartoons were never his thing. Unless you counted certain detective animes. He'd spent most of his childhood practicing being a crime solver and trying to outdo his brother. It wasn't much of a life, but it was his. And now Ayumu had dragged Hiyono into it.


	12. Childhood Friends

Ron-Angie Martin

**NOTE: **Hehehe, this is probably the best chapter I've ever written!! XD It's also one of my longest, because I set a new requirement for myself in order to make my chapters longer. And also, I'm not that heartless. I wouldn't leave you guys hanging without knowing what happened to poor Ryoko! Well, you'd better enjoy it while you can, because I leave for camp tomorrow! Random topic: Have you ever been in a cafeteria line and happened to see what the main dish was? For example, we'll say it's a burger. And when you get up towards the front of the line, and you look into the bin filled with burgers, and think to yourself, "Gee, I wonder which one is mine…" Because whatever burger is put onto your tray, you are destined to be with. Out of about 30 burgers, you ended up with that particular one. There is not another burger exactly like that one! It is unique, and it is all yours! I like to think of it as "The Burger of Destiny".

Birds sang as the new morning's light poured into the tunnel. Kousuke slowly opened his eyes. There, lying next to him, was Ryoko. His angel. She looked as beautiful to him when she was asleep as she did when she was awake. So gorgeous. Ryoko's eyes fluttered, then flung opened.

"KYAH!" Ryoko screamed and jumped when she saw Kousuke that close to her, banging her head on the top of the tunnel. "Ow… Geez, that hurt!"

"Are you OK?!" She punched him in the face.

"No, I'm not OK! Of all the things you've ever done, this was definitely the lowest of the low, Kousuke Asazuki!!" Ryoko crawled outside and dragged him out there as well. She kneeled on his chest, and preparing for another punch when Kosuke stopped her.

"Wait, I'm confused. Why does the fact that you passed out last night and me making sure you didn't get eaten by stray dogs by leaving you lying around in the park earn me getting a whacking?!" She hit him again.

"Because you're a big pervert!! Honestly! What you did to me was unacceptable!! Especially it being what time of the month it is!! If the rest of all my sports teams found out… It would be ugly! I would probably get kicked off the teams!!" Kousuke blinked.

"Wait… You think I…"

"You didn't…" Kousuke's face turned beet red.

"Uh, no…"

Then came that darn awkward silence again. By this time, Ryoko was blushing too. She got off him and muttered a quick apology. She stood up and brushed herself off.

"Well then, I think it's time you went to go get me my bread." Kousuke was truly amazed.

"Oh come on! You get shot, then you pass out from your searing pain, you give me a couple bruises, and now you act like you were never injured at all?! Damn, you must be Wonder Woman or something."

"Will I have to kick you, or will you go get my breakfast?" Kousuke knew better than to lie there and take one of Ryoko's kicks. He got up and took off as fast as he could to get her bread. She settled down on one of the swing sets.

"Yes, it _is_ amazing that I can work through it all," Ryoko said to herself. But being an athlete, she had always been taught to work through the pain. But never this much. However, it was decreasing every minute. Within a few hours, it would probably be gone all together. But right now, she needed to sit down, and the swings were probably the best place to do that.

--

Kousuke walked down the street to the nearest grocery store, again, hands in pockets. He always seemed to do that, but was never quite sure why. But more importantly, how could Ryoko have thought that he would do _that_ to her?! It's not like he'd never thought about it, but he did like her, and it's not like he ever talked about it to anyone else. On top of that, Kousuke _was_ a teenage boy, after all. Besides, if he would've never thought of doing that without Ryoko's consent. Kousuke wasn't like Him.

He reached the small grocery store, picked out Ryoko's favorite type of bread, paid, and left. Kousuke ran the rest of the way back to the park, because he knew Ryoko tended to get a tad bit violent if he didn't get back quick enough. Kousuke found her by the swings.

"Here you go," he said handing Ryoko her bread.

"Tsk, Tsk. I think you're getting slower, Kousuke!" He sat down beside her on the swings.

"Do you ever eat anything besides bread?" Kousuke asked. Ryoko shot him a look as she bit off a chunk.

"Well that's a very rude question, you should never ask a lady what she eats!"

"I thought it was never ask a lady how much she weighs." Ryoko pondered this for a minute.

"OK, never ask a lady how old she is, how much she weighs, or what she eats. Fair enough?"

"OK." Ryoko went back to eating her bread.

"_I've got to tell him sooner or later,"_ she thought_. "Just as soon as I finish breakfast."_ They talked for a little while longer before Ryoko decided it was time to tell him.

"Kousuke, I have to tell you something," she said as she looked towards the ground.

"Uh, OK…"

"The Hunters. They're coming. A whole army of them. And they're going to be led by Him." Kousuke clenched his fists.

"We thought so. We just couldn't believe it." Ryoko looked up at him.

"How did you guys find out?" Kousuke told her about Hiyono trying to decrypt the code that Ryoko had sputtered, and what had happened afterwards. She shook her head.

"And that all happened because of me…" Kousuke put his arm around her.

"No, it's not your fault. Any one of us would probably have done the same thing. You couldn't risk one of us being killed. It was your only option."

"I know… But it still feels wrong." Kousuke decided it was best not to tell her that he or Rio or Eyes could have stopped it from happening.

"Hey, look at me." She turned towards him. "Everything is going to be OK. I promise." Then Kousuke kissed Ryoko, full on the lips.


	13. The Second Nightmare

Ron-Angie Martin

**NOTE:** Why do I keep doing all these terrible things to poor Hiyono?! It's not that I don't like her, she happens to be my second favorite right after Kousuke!! The ending sentence reminds me of a certain MASH episode that was parodied on Family Guy… That episode would be, _Abyssinia, Henry_. If you've seen that episode, then you'll know what I mean. ;) By the way, there's another big thing that happens to Hiyono, but I'll keep you guessing. This will be the last chapter you get for a while, because in 2 hours I'm leaving for camp and won't be back until Friday. Right now I'm off to watch an anime I just discovered I liked, which is Inuyasha. BYE!!

Madoka was busy typing away at her computer. She was still pretty steamed about this morning. How dare Ayumu call her fat?! It was a good thing for him that she was going to be late for work if she continued with his beating. She would just have to wait until she got home to teach him a lesson. Madoka leaned back in her chair with her eyes closed.

"Yup, he's not getting off that easily!" Wataya walked up behind her.

"Who's not getting off that easily?"

"KYAH!" Madoka, shouted in surprise as she fell backwards in her chair, which toppled on top of Wataya.

"Ow! Geez, that hurt like hell!" Madoka said as she rubbed her lower back.

"Can't… Breathe!!" Wataya said as he struggled for air.

"Oh, so you're calling me fat too?!" Madoka said as she made a fist at her partner. Wataya made a few more choking sounds before Madoka realized he really needed her help.

"Fine, I'll get off. But if you call me heavy again, I'm staying where I land." She pulled the chair off of him, then reached out a hand to help him up.

"Whew, thanks!" Wataya said as he straightened his tie.

"Yeah, yeah," Madoka said, returning to her work. "Just don't sneak up one me next time." Wataya rolled his eyes and walked away.

"Don't lean back in your chair next time," he said under his breath.

"What was that?!" Wataya's eyes widened. He knew it was time to go.

"Nothing! I've got some really important paper work to do, so BYE!" Madoka groaned. Everyone seemed to be getting on her nerves these days.

--

Hiyono had decided that it would be totally pointless to waste a beautiful day such as this one, so she and Ayumu took a walk outside. A few feet from their apartment, they passed some of Hiyono's friends. Of course, they noticed the cast.

"Oh my gosh, Hiyono! What did you do to your arm?!" Ayumu had already prepared something to say in case someone said something. He was really careful not to say, "she fell down the stairs" because that was a classic abuse term. He also couldn't say what really happened. One, it would attract unwanted attention. Two, he knew how the gossip chain worked. Hiyono's reputation could be trashed.

"She was in a bicycle accident." The two girls looked at Ayumu.

"Oh that's terrible!" the pink haired one said. "How did it happen?" Ayumu quickly lied to them about how Hiyono was walking down the street and a bicyclist wasn't watching where he was going and crashed into her.

"That's just plain mean!" said the other girl, who was bleach blonde. "They should have laws against that kind of stuff!" Ayumu rolled his eyes.

"Hey Hiyono, you haven't said a single thing this entire time!" Pink hair noticed.

"_Well now we know who the smart one is,"_ he thought.

"She just recently caught laryngitis. She can't talk either." The two girls thought about this for a minute.

"Oh, so that's why you're with Hiyono. To talk for her." Hiyono smiled broadly and nodded.

"Hey, can we sign the cast?" She held out her arm while Blondie dug for a pen in her purse. She found one, and both signed it.

"Bye, Hiyono!" the girls called, as they continued down the street. She waved to them until they were gone.

"_Thanks for covering for me, Ayumu,"_ Hiyono wrote.

"Yeah, no problem." They continued down the street and passed the park Hiyono stopped, and grabbed Ayumu's arm.

"What is it?" She pointed to the swings. Ryoko and Kousuke were kissing.

"Oh geez, that's just what I needed to see after breakfast." Hiyono made a face at him. "She shouldn't be out of the hospital. My guess is the Blade Child inside her decided to bust out. Just like Rio did when she exploded herself."

"_You just don't understand true love!!"_ Hiyono wrote at him.

"Yeah, probably not. I've been single my entire life." The subject of romance was put to rest for the moment, and they walked on in silence. Every once in a while, they ran into a few more of Hiyono's friends who wanted to sign her cast. Ayumu was beginning to wonder how one person could have so many friends. But with Hiyono, he wasn't at all surprised. Then they reached the school. Ayumu hadn't planned on walking past here, but he had forgotten. Hiyono stopped to stand in front of it on the sidewalk. She stared at it, without blinking or moving. Ayumu stood by her. Hiyono took a step forward onto the campus.

"Hey, where are you going?" She wrote on her notepad, and then handed it to him.

"_I'm going to have to go inside sometime. It is my school, after all. Besides, I want you to look over the code a few more times to see if you can crack it." _Ayumu didn't want to say anything, but he thought it was best if he did.

"Don't you think it's a little bit too soon? Come on, we can look at it Monday." She shook her head.

"_We've got to look at it now!"_ Hiyono's cell phone started ringing. She groaned and dug through her pocket to find it, then handed it to Ayumu.

"Hello?" The voice at the other end sounded very serious.

"Is this Miss Hiyono Yuizaki?"

"She's unable to speak right now."

"Can she listen?"

"Yeah…" Ayumu handed the phone to Hiyono.

"I don't know who it is, but they want you to listen to them." She shrugged and took it, then put it on speaker.

"Are you listening, Miss Yuizaki?"

"Yeah, she is."

"Very well then. Miss Yuizaki, it is with my deepest sympathy that I must report the death of your parents. They were flying back from a business trip in China when their plane went down. There were no survivors."


	14. Still Just A Kid

Ron-Angie Martin

**NOTE: **Dude, I was watching the new episode of Monk, and can you believe that Dr. Kroger died?! The writers had to make him die because his actor (Stanley Kamel) died of a heart attack in April. But still, Dr. Kroger was freaking awesome!! I will miss him. :( Speaking of season premiers, Avatar came back on while I was away. I really like the episode where the gang goes to a play about their life. It was terrible!! XD Anyway, as you can tell, I am back from camp. I made new friends, and had a lot of fun. My tan line is freaking electric, and my hair has turned bleach blonde from the pool water. Well, here's the new chapter. And if anyone can guess the movie that Hiyono is thinking of, then you get a cookie!! :P

Hiyono's mouth opened and her eyes went blank as she let the cell phone slip out of her hand and fall to the sidewalk. It didn't break, but it appeared to be slightly scratched. The person on the other end of the line had appeared to have hung up.

"_How could he be so heartless? Not even the slightest condolence…"_ Ayumu thought. Hiyono began to shake, then took off running down the street by herself.

"Hiyono, wait!" He called after her, but it did no good. She didn't even turn back to look at him. He considered going after her, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. He'd never been close to anyone who'd died, but Ayumu knew that when Madoka was crying over Kiyotaka's disappearance, she would rather be alone than with someone. Hiyono would find her way back home. Probably. In the mean time, he leaned back on the gate, tilted his head back, and took a nap.

--

Hiyono started to run after that creep gave her the horrible news about her parents. She didn't know where or why she was running, she just knew she had to run. Hot tears began to stream down her face as she heard Ayumu call her name. She didn't want to leave him, but she couldn't be around anyone right then.

The world around her appeared to be moving in slow motion, and Hiyono was the only one moving. Time stood still. On the street next to her, an ambulance raced by, sirens blazing. But to Hiyono, it rolled down the street inch by inch, and sounded like a kitten's meow. She just kept on running.

Along the way, Hiyono was reminded of a movie she saw once about an American guy who ran everywhere he went. He fell in love with his childhood friend, who had taken up prostitution after high school, and she came to live with him for a while. But then he unknowingly had gotten her pregnant, and she left him. He was so crushed by her departure that he just started running. The guy ran for three and a half years, and ended up going across the country like three or four times. Eventually, news reporters came and video taped the guy, and his old girlfriend ended up seeing him on the news. Then the guy got tired of running and went back home to Alabama, and his girlfriend took him back. They got married after a while, then the girl's days as a prostitute caught up with her and she died of an STD, leaving the guy to raise their son all alone. Hiyono thought it was a particularly good movie, but it was nothing like her current situation. The guy in the movie had lost both of his parents, but at least he was an adult. Hiyono was too, in the eyes of most of society, but she was also still just a kid. After running full speed for close to half an hour, Hiyono's legs gave out.

"_I want to go home,"_ she thought to herself. She didn't really recognize the part of town she was in anymore. Hiyono hadn't been paying attention to where she was running. Wherever she was now was obviously not the nicer side of the city. It looked like the sort of place the Blade Children might hang out. As far as she knew, they actually might. Hiyono leaned back against a brick building and sunk down to the sidewalk. She began to think as she buried her head in her arms.

"_Why did all of this happen to me? I've tried hard to be a good person. It's just not fair!"_

"Hiyono?" a voice called out. Hiyono looked up. Rio Takeuchi was standing right in front of her. "What are you doing in this part of the city?" The older girl stood up and began scribbling on her notepad.

"_I don't really know."_ Rio looked at the notepad and handed it back.

"Can't you talk?" Hiyono shook her head. Rio understood. Hiyono began to wipe the tears from her eyes. "Where's Ayumu?"

"_Back at school, I guess. That's where I left him. But he'll have probably gone home by now."_ Hiyono quickly explained the rest of the story to Rio.

"_I never thought it would all lead up to this,"_ Rio thought. "You know, all the Blade Children are orphans, too," she said. Hiyono bit her lip. She hadn't really begun to think of herself as an orphan yet. But she was. Just like the Blade Children.

"Do you know how to get back to Ayumu's house from here?" Rio asked her. Hiyono shook her head.

"_I've never been this far before."_ Rio sighed and shook her head.

"Come on, then, I'll take you back."

--

Ayumu had finished his nap about an hour ago, and had begun thinking instead.

"_Out of all the lemons life has thrown had Hiyono, she has not only thrown them back, but she's spat on them before throwing. But this time, I think she's finally been broken…"_ It pained him to think of how much his friend had been hurt in the past few days. He turned his head to see Rio and Hiyono coming up the sidewalk. Ayumu checked his watch. It'd been nearly an hour and a half since Hiyono took off.

"I brought her back for you," Rio said. Ayumu stood up.

"Yeah, thanks." The short Blade Child turned and began to skip merrily off.

"I wonder where she's so happy to be heading off to." Hiyono forced a weak smile.

"_Eyes's apartment. They're a couple now…" _Ayumu saw through her phony happiness.

"Hiyono, you don't have to put on a brave face for me. If you want to cry… Well, then that's OK." She looked at him, then quickly away. She could feel herself getting ready to sob, but she wanted to be strong. But she couldn't do it anymore. Hiyono began to cry as Ayumu wrapped her arms around her and stroked her hair. She hugged him back. She may have legally been an adult, but really, she was still just a kid.


	15. Falling In Love

Ron-Angie Martin

**NOTE: **I forgot to mention it in the previous note, but I used my favorite saying the previous chapter, which I invented. Only I changed it a bit. That favorite saying would be: "When life gives you lemons, spit on them and throw 'em back!" The movie mentioned in the previous chapter is _Forrest Gump_, and someone asked me if it was incest for Eyes and Rio to fall in love. It is not. Neither is it incest for Kousuke and Ryoko to fall in love. Incest will never ever have a place in my fanfictions. But I appreciate the question, just so I could clear it up for everyone else.

_Around 10 AM_

Ryoko pulled out of Kousuke's kiss.

"Excuse me, what the hell was that?!" This wasn't quite the reaction Kousuke was expecting. He thought girls were supposed to like being kissed. Although, with past experiences, he never did really understand girls. "Did I give you permission to kiss me?!" Ryoko was obviously not happy. Kousuke's face turned red.

"Geez, I'm sorry! It was just a kiss!"

"Just a kiss? JUST A KISS?!" Ryoko pulled him by his shirt collar until he was inches away from her face. "Do you have any idea how long I've waited for you to kiss me like that?! Geez, it sure took you long enough!!" Now Kousuke was really confused.

"I don't get it. Did you want me to kiss you, or didn't you?"

"I can't believe you would even have to ask that!" Ryoko kissed him back. "I love you, you stupid jerk!"

--

Madoka checked her watch. It was around noon. She sighed rather loudly out of boredom. There wasn't anything to do around the office these days. The Blade Children were still at large, but they had kept pretty quiet since a year ago when Ayumu rescued Madoka from Kanone the Crazy Cat Guy. But that was all last year. In the present, it was extremely boring.

"Um, Inspector Narumi…" Wataya said as he walked up behind her. He was careful not to surprise her and repeat the earlier incident. She turned around and looked at him.

"What do you want, Wataya?" Madoka's partner began to sweat on his forehead.

"Uh, well… It's almost lunch time, and I was wondering…" Wataya wiped his sweaty hands on his pants. "Would you like to… come out to lunch with… me?" Madoka sighed and folded her arms.

"Wataya…" He held up a hand.

"No, I know what you're going to say. I know you've just gotten divorced, and I know you still have feelings for Kiyotaka. On top of that, I know it's inappropriate to date within the work place." Wataya held her hand. "But Inspector Narumi, Madoka, I've been waiting for the longest time. Please, do me the honor of taking you out for lunch."

"Uh… Actually, I was going to tell you that I am quite busy with paper work." Madoka took her hand back and pretended to busy herself with random papers that were absolutely unimportant. Wataya peered over her shoulder.

"You're too busy with a missing dog case?" He read aloud. Madoka scooped up the papers and hugged them to her chest.

"These documents are strictly confidential! I'm sorry Wataya, but I'm going to have to ask you to leave. Now shoo!" He held up his hands in surrender.

"OK, I'm going, I'm going. Geez!" After he was gone, Madoka groaned and slammed her head down on her desk. It wasn't like she didn't want to date Wataya; he had a lot of good points about him. But there was something holding her back. Madoka knew that Kiyotaka cared nothing for her; he showed her that when he up and left three years ago without word, and just recently with the divorce papers. But still, she couldn't help but hope for his return.

--

Ayumu checked his watch. It was around noon. Hiyono was still in his arms. She had stopped crying, but she still couldn't let go. And he didn't want her to. Both of them could've stayed like that forever. That is, until Ayumu heard Hiyono's stomach begin to rumble. He couldn't help but smile. Then the smile turned into a snicker, which turned into a laugh. Hiyono pulled out of the hug and gave him a questioning look.

"I'm sorry, I don't know what's so funny… But come on, I'll make you lunch. People all the way over in America probably heard your stomach growling." She smiled weakly, and then held on to his arm as he walked her back to his apartment. They passed a few people they knew from school on the way back. Ayumu got feel their eyes upon he and Hiyono. He could almost hear the gossip that was to come, but he cared not. When they reached the apartment, he held the door open for her, and she smiled warmly at him. Hiyono felt like she was all cried out after Ayumu held her.

Hiyono had loved Ayumu for a long time now, ever since she had heard him playing the piano in the music room that time a year ago. But she never felt like he'd returned her feelings. Not once. And she couldn't very well admit her feelings to him; for fear that she would kill their friendship. It wasn't like Hiyono never tried to tell him. That first night she spent at Ayumu's house talking to him, and he told her that he was scared for her when he found her in the classroom, she tried to write him a note telling him how she felt. But she'd chickened out at the last minute. Maybe it was better if they just stayed friends.

--

Eyes had just finished playing the song he wrote for Rio, his love. She was sitting next to him on the piano seat admiring his work.

"That was beautiful," she said as she leaned onto his shoulder. "What do you call it?" Eyes wrapped his arms around his short silver haired beauty and held her close.

"Rio's Song," he whispered into her ear. Rio snuggled into his chest. They had been a couple for less than 24 hours, and despite confessing their feelings to each other, they hadn't kissed yet. But being close to him was good enough for now.

"How long?" she asked him.

"How long what?"

"How long have you loved me?" Eyes thought for a minute.

"I don't really now. I've cared deeply for you for quite a while, but I don't think I actually knew I loved you until I thought I lost you in that bomb accident." Rio remembered.

"I'm sorry I did that… It was really dumb."

"Yes… It was. But if you hadn't done it, I would've never realized my feelings for you. I love you more than anything else in this whole world, Rio." Then Eyes kissed Rio for the first time.


	16. Code Cracking

Ron-Angie Martin

**NOTE: **To the person who shall remain nameless who told me to change the name of "Rio's Song", no flipping way. Make fun of it all you want, I don't give a crap. My fanfic, my lame song title! I don't see any fanfics on _your_ profile. My suggestion to you is to write some of your own before you criticize anyone else's. Also, my code thing despite being quite simple to solve go too complicated for me, so parts of it may not make much sense. Also, if you find out who did it, DO NOT SPOIL IT FOR EVERYONE ELSE!!

A few days went by, and Hiyono seemed to be returning to her normal self, though she still could not speak. She didn't even shed a tear at her parents' funeral. Then the days turned into weeks, and before they knew it, it was time for Hiyono's cast to come off. Ayumu, who had just recently obtained his driver's license, borrowed Madoka's car and drove her. He did all the talking since he couldn't read her notepad and watch the road at the same time.

"Want to go for ice cream after you get your cast off?" she nodded vigorously. If there was one thing Hiyono Yuizaki loved most in this world besides being nosey, it was ice cream. They pulled up in front of the hospital, and went inside. Unlike the days when the Blade Children were on the prowl, it was pretty calm. Ayumu went to inform the secretary of their arrival, and then joined Hiyono in the waiting room. Ayumu noticed that he'd read all the magazines before from all the previous hospital visits he'd made in the past few years. But they didn't have to wait long, because Lydia the nurse called them in shortly after.

"How are you doing today, Hiyono?" The girl smiled and nodded. "Dr. Amane is waiting for you right in here," Lydia said, gesturing towards the room to their right. Ayumu and Hiyono entered, and Lydia closed the door behind them. Dr. Amane stood up from a stack of papers she was looking through.

"Ah, Hiyono! Nice to see you again. Ready to get that cast off?" Hiyono winked and gave her a thumbs up sign with her good hand. The doctor looked over the cast.

"Wow, you sure got a lot of people to sign it." Hiyono remembered something, and then looked towards Ayumu, who understood.

"I forgot to sign it. I guess it's too late now though." Dr. Amane grabbed a knife and began to cut the cast open.

"Not at all. Hiyono can keep the cast if she wants, and you can sign it then." She made the final incisions, and it came off. Hiyono rubbed her arm and wiggled her fingers.

"I'm amazed that it healed that quickly," Ayumu said. The doctor shrugged.

"It was a minor break. Now Hiyono, if you have any problems, come see me, OK?" She nodded. The two teens prepared to walk out the door when Dr. Amane took Ayumu by the shoulder. Lydia was beginning to usher Hiyono out.

"Ayumu, I want to ask you some things," the doctor said as she closed the door. Ayumu sort of figured that this wasn't going to be a fun chat. "Hiyono is still living with you and your sister in law, correct?"

"Yeah…"

"And her school educators are aware of her current condition?"

"They know she is unable to talk, but they think it's because of her parents. We haven't told anyone about what really happened." Dr. Amane looked at him carefully.

"Hiyono is still unable to talk at all?"

"Not a word." She tapped her chin as if she were deep in thought.

"With most cases I see where the girl who has been assaulted loses her voice usually retains it within a week or two. How long has it been?" Ayumu counted back mentally.

"About four, I guess."

"Four weeks, and not a word?"

"No." The doctor put a hand on his shoulder.

"See if you can help her along. These things are difficult on their own, but with a friend nearby, it helps to ease the pain." Dr. Amane signaled towards the door, hinting that Ayumu was allowed to leave now. As he was on the way out, she added a few more words to her statement. "If Hiyono doesn't regain her voice now, she may never."

--

On the way to the ice cream shop, Hiyono turned up the radio and danced in her seat. Normally, the cheerful music would bother Ayumu, but he was thinking to hard to care or even notice.

"_Never talk again? Hiyono? That's impossible… She'll get her voice back. I know she will. Won't she?"_ He couldn't imagine going the rest of his life without walking down the street and hearing that melodic voice singing, "Good morning, Ayumu!" every single morning. The thought was nearly unbearable. He had to help her in any way that he could. They pulled up into the drive through. It was so much easier than ordering inside. There were too cars ahead of them. If the people inside weren't idiots and didn't take half an hour to decide on a plain chocolate ice cream in a dish, then the line should go quickly.

"What do you want?" Ayumu asked Hiyono. She handed him a list she had made like five minutes ago.

"_Large soft serve chocolate with vanilla serve and a cherry and sprinkles!!"_ She had added a cute little smiley face after her order. Luckily, the people in front of them were not total idiots, and Ayumu was able to order quickly.

"Welcome to The Cooler, how may I serve you?" said a teenage girl on the other end of the line. Her cheeriness was a bit overdone.

"A large soft serve chocolate with vanilla serve and a cherry and sprinkles."

"Will that be all?"

"Yeah."

"3.00 is your total, please pull up to the next window." Hiyono cocked her head and looked at Ayumu. After four weeks, they didn't really need the notepad all the time anymore.

"Ice cream was never really my thing."

--

They sat in the parking lot as Hiyono scooped away at her ice cream with a spoon. Ayumu had been thinking about it long and hard, and he figured it was time to drop the bomb on her.

"Hiyono… Tomorrow we're going to get the codes." She put her spoon down and listened. "I know it may be too soon for you. I know it may hurt. But the thing is… Catching this creep may be the only chance of hearing your voice again. The doc's worried about you. She says that most girls like you retain their voice within a week or two. It's been a month, Hiyono." She reached into her pocket and pulled out two sheets of paper withJ-J-X-N-S-B-J-B-M-B-Q-V-L-J written on it, then two other random letter codes.

"What is all of this?" Hiyono wrote something down on her notepad. There were still instances where Ayumu couldn't read her thoughts.

"_I had these in my pocket the whole time. I'd forgotten about them. I'm so sorry."_

"No, don't be. I don't blame you for forgetting. Just hand me the codes, and I'll see what I can do with them."

J-J-X-N-S-B-J-B-M-B-Q-V-L-J

I-I-W-O-R-A-I-A-L-A-P-U-K-I

K-K-Y-M-T-C-K-C-N-B-R-V-M-J

They all seemed to be just nonsense words, but if you combined them in certain areas, they appeared to spell a name. Ayumu looked at Hiyono.

"I know who raped you."


	17. Unmasked

Ron-Angie Martin

**NOTE: **Eh, this chapter is shorter than most of the other ones, but probably also one of my best. You know what the irony of this and my Bleach fanfic is? Spiral isn't a popular anime, but this fanfic is. Bleach, on the other hand, is one of the most popular animes in the world, and my fanfic only has about one review, and as far as I know, no fans. Wow, that is so weird. Well I've got a whole new inspiration for this story now. But I'm revealing nothing. ;) Well anyway, enjoy the story and stay a faithful fan!

K-I-Y-O-T-A-K-A-N-A-R-U-M-I

Hiyono's jaw dropped as she saw the name written on the piece of paper in Ayumu's hands.

"I know. I can't believe it either." The two sat in uncomfortable silence for a few minutes while Hiyono finished her ice cream. Inside, Ayumu was fuming.

"_That bastard! First he leaves Madoka without any warning or word for the past three years, divorces her, and then rapes Hiyono and breaks her arm! This time he's gone too far! He must pay for all the pain he's caused everyone!" _Hiyono paused mid bite to look at him. She could see the rage building inside of him, no matter how he tried to hide it. Frankly, she didn't like seeing him like this. If only she could talk…

--

For the next couple of days, Ayumu was at the computer nonstop trying to track down his older brother's whereabouts. No, Kiyotaka Narumi's whereabouts. He had stopped being his brother a long time ago. Other than Hiyono, know one else knew about Kiyotaka. Except for the Blade Children. Ryoko had probably told them. But that wasn't important now. He had to find him.

As for Hiyono, she was starting to get a bit antsy. But she couldn't tell anyone. Not even Ayumu.

--

It had been four weeks since Wataya first asked Madoka out. Ever since then, it had been kind of awkward to be around one another. But being partners, they really had no choice. So mostly when they patrolling in the cop car, they sat in awkward silence. Wataya turned on the radio. The song playing happened to be Lost In Love by Air Supply. He blushed and changed the station. The next song was Our Song by Taylor Swift. Again, Wataya changed the station. The next one was I Want It That Way by The Backstreet Boys, or at least it was until Madoka got mad and punched the radio. There were no more songs after that.

"You know, I was thinking…" Madoka said she sighed and rested her head on her hand. "Maybe… Maybe I should start dating again. Kiyotaka's obviously moved on… Or else he wouldn't have sent me those stupid divorce papers." Wataya's face lit up.

"Does this mean what I think it means?!" She shot him a harsh look.

"It means that I'm moving on with my life. There is still no "you and me", nor will there ever be."

"Aw…" Wataya went back to his driving, though this time he was very melancholy. He could be romantic! If only Madoka would give him a chance.

--

The Blade Children were meeting at Eyes's apartment to discuss the plan. Kiyotaka and a group of Hunters were going to be attacking soon, and they needed to figure out a way to stop them.

"We could grab a bunch of machine guns and blow their freaking brains out!!" Kousuke suggested, jumping up in enthusiasm.

"Pfft, please. Were do you expect to get all of those guns?" Rio asked. Kousuke scratched his head.

"Well, I hadn't really thought about that part yet."

"Come on, we have to be realistic," Ryoko said. Eyes, as he usually did during these epic meetings, was playing his piano.

"I could build a bomb," Rio offered. "I could make it bigger than every before. And lots of them, too."

"That's good," Ryoko said. "Kousuke, you could do something with your knives. Or just be a really good spy." He winked at her.

"I could do both." He glanced back at Eyes. "And what's Rutherford gonna do?" Rio punched him in the arm.

"Shut up, he's thinking."

"Yeah well we're all gonna die while Rutherford is 'thinking'." That sent Rio into a fury mode, and Ryoko had to pull her off of Kousuke.

"Come on, save it for the Hunters, you two." Eyes stopped playing, much to everyone's surprise. He stood up and walked over to the squabbling teens.

"I have a plan."

--

Hiyono couldn't wait anymore. She had to know. Leaving Ayumu to his computer work, she slipped into the bathroom unnoticed. Ayumu heard the door shut, but didn't think much of it. That is, until she'd been gone for 10 minutes. He turned around in his chair and stared at the door. Something was obviously wrong, but he didn't know what to do. You can't just go knock on the door and say, "Hey, is everything all right in there". Especially not to a girl. That goes double if that girl is Hiyono. But if you're a guy like Ayumu, then you tend to ignore these thoughts and go ahead and go through with it anyway, even if you know you'll be smacked on the head repeatedly with a bear or bunny puppet. He got up from his chair and walked over to the door and rapped on it with his knuckle.

"Hey, Hiyono. You OK?" There was no response. Ayumu leaned up against the door and listened. It sounded like there was crying on the other side of the door. "Hey, Hiyono. Come on." He jiggled the doorknob, but it was locked. Ayumu sat on the ground with his back up against the door.

"Hiyono, if something's wrong, you've gotta tell me." He heard her sniffle, the start to write something on a piece of paper. She slid it under the door. It was folded into fourths. He unfolded it.

"_I'm late."_


	18. Love

Ron-Angie Martin

**NOTE: **Urgh, I've been so bored lately… But I appreciate all of my fans! :D Sorry, I tend to have a big ego when it comes to my fanfics. And now,I have one thing to say. LET THE FLUFFINESS BEGIN!! (And also I knew a word that my super-smart-always-right-100-percent-of-the-time friend didn't know!! XD)

Ayumu's eyes grew wide with fear. He may have been a guy, but he knew what that phrase meant. He remembered when Madoka and Kiyotaka were still married and his sister in law had freaked out because of those two little words. This was probably the worst thing possible that could happen. It just couldn't be! Ayumu began to tear up as well, only his were tears of anger. Another note slid out from under the door, this time unfolded.

"_I'm so sorry..."_

"Don't you ever be sorry, Hiyono," Ayumu told her through the door. "If anyone should be sorry, it should be me. I should've known that Kiyotaka would come after you. I should've stayed with you and protected you. Out of all the other times I thought you were in danger, I stayed with you and nothing bad happened. But the one time I didn't… I'm so sorry!" Hiyono opened the bathroom door and crawled out and sat beside him. Her eyes were all red from crying and her face was tear stained. They embraced.

"Maybe it doesn't mean anything. When Madoka gets home, I'll tell her about it, and maybe she can go buy you a pregnancy test. And if that doesn't work, we'll go see Dr. Amane. And if she says it's positive… I don't know, we'll say it's mine or something. It's not like we have our reputations to worry about. We'll get through this together. I promise." He kissed her on the forehead. Hiyono whispered something.

"Did you just say something?" It was a hoarse whisper, but she was definitely trying to talk. The tears began to stream down Hiyono's cheeks once again. She desperately wanted to tell him something, but she couldn't get her voice to work.

"Come on, Hiyono. I know you can do it," Ayumu coaxed her. "Just focus." She listened to him, and began to look deep inside herself for the words she wanted to say. The words she'd wanted to say to him for so long.

"I love you." It was quiet, but it was there. The feeling was now out in the open. Ayumu stroked her hand and looked into her eyes. Unlike all the other couples that confessed their love to each other in this fanfic, there seemed to be a lack of awkward silence.

"You know, when we first met, I thought you were just another ordinary annoying teenage girl. But now that I've gotten to know you over the past year, I've come to realize that you're anything but ordinary and annoying. Before you came along, my life was boring. I felt like there was an empty space, but now you fill that void. You complete me. I love you, too." Then Ayumu kissed Hiyono, straight on the lips. She wrapped her arms around him and kissed him back. This was the moment that the two of them had been waiting for, for the longest time.

--

Rio went to straight to work after the Blade Children had finished their meeting. Her job, as usual, was to make bombs. But not just ordinary bombs. These were unlike any weapon she'd ever created before. These were of the Blade Children's own creation. They were very small, which made them sort of hard to work with. But inside of them, was a force so great, it would explode a ten elephants into a thousand pieces. Yes, this was going to work excellently…

Kousuke's job was to be on the look out for anything or anyone suspicious. He'd seen a guy on a bench across the street staring up at the apartment. It could be just a fan of Eyes's. Or, it could be a Hunter. Either way, he'd better keep his eye on the guy. Kousuke secretly hoped the guy would turn out to be a Hunter. In that case, he would get to practice his knifing skills…

Ryoko had left the apartment and had gone to her soccer practice. She made sure she was never alone so that wouldn't give the Hunters a chance to sneak up on her and kill her. Ryoko had learned her lesson when she confronted Kiyotaka had the schoolyard. And look where she ended up there. Besides that, being at soccer practice would train her to kick harder, meaning she could take out Hunters if she had too. But hopefully, she wouldn't have to kill anyone. That was never Ryoko's style…

Eyes was playing his piano and pondering over the situation. From what Ryoko had said about Kiyotaka and the other Hunters, the time of the attack was not far. Everyone had to be on their highest guard at all times. They couldn't let themselves get attacked just because someone was careless. But even with Rio's bombs, Kousuke's knives, and Ryoko's athletics, they couldn't stop all of the Hunters, not to mention Kiyotaka Narumi. No, if they wanted to beat him, they would have to get help from his younger brother. But how to go about asking him was what Eyes was pondering at the moment…

--

Ayumu and Hiyono were still sitting on the floor kissing. Well, by this point, it was more like making out. They were careful not to go a step above that, though. When they finished, she lay in his arms as he stroked her hair. If they just had each other, they could make it through all this. They just had to. Ayumu's cell phone began to ring. He fished it out of his pocket and looked at the ID.

"It's Rutherford." He put it on speaker so Hiyono could hear.

"Narumi, I'm calling you on behalf of the Blade Children. We need your help in stopping Kiyotaka."


	19. Invitation

Ron-Angie Martin

**NOTE:** Someone has uploaded the English Dub of Spiral on to youtube! YES! That just makes my job a whole lot easier. You see, I'm the Trustee (sort of like Assistant Editor) for Spiral on , and pretty much all I do is write episode recaps and quotes. It doesn't sound like much, but it's a tough job. Anyway, now I don't have to read subtitles all day!! XD Sorry for the long delay of chapters. I'll bet you thought that I was cooking up something brilliant and ingenious for you. BUZZ! WRONG! I'm just lazy. :P Plus I have to go back to school in like three weeks. This is probably one of the crappiest chapters I've ever written. (Probably because my inspiration is being a butthead right now!!) And also I've noticed that this fanfic is starting to take on a Naruto demeanor, what with wanting to kill one's brother and everything. But it won't be like when Sasuke killed Itachi and then found out from Tobi that Itachi was actually good this whole time. That really pissed me off and I ranted about it for a week. Anyway, here's the chapter. (And fangirl is one word!!)

"What are you saying, Rutherford?" Hiyono looked at Ayumu in concern. She knew that if this were a chance to find Kiyotaka, he'd sacrifice anything to take it. Probably even his life.

"I'm giving you a chance to get even with your brother. Are you willing to take it?"

"Heh, he's no brother of mine. But sure, I'll get even with him."

"Ayumu, maybe we should think about this…" Hiyono tried to reason with him. Personally, she didn't think getting revenge was the right answer. Sure, what Kiyotaka did was terrible and she would probably never forgive him, but Hiyono couldn't take someone's life. But there was no stopping Ayumu.

"Come on, Hiyono. This is our chance." She wanted to tell him not to, but resisted. Secretly, she was afraid that he wouldn't love her anymore if she spoke out against him. But that was dumb; they weren't in feudal times anymore. But was it so dumb? Hiyono sat and remained silent.

"You and the girl can meet the rest of us at my apartment. We'll be waiting for you."

"All right." Ayumu and Eyes hung up.

"Are you sure we can trust them? I mean, they are the Blade Children after all. I know we've teamed up with them in the past, but nothing this serious… It was always to rescue someone. This time we're just doing it to take out someone's life," Hiyono said with concern. Ayumu took her hands in his.

"Yeah, but don't you want to make him pay? He hurt you, Hiyono. Mentally and physically. And I'm sorry, but he can't get away with that. I won't allow it." He kissed her again. Hiyono didn't want to go through with the plan at all, but she loved Ayumu too much to say no.

--

The two arrived at Eyes's apartment later that night to go over the plan. They stood outside the tall skyscraper and looked up toward the top.

"It's so extravagant," Hiyono said with her eyes wide.

"What do you expect? He's a famous pianist." Ayumu pressed the button on the speaker for Eyes's room.

"We're here. Both of us."

"I'm buzzing you in." There was a buzz noise and the doors opened. Hiyono and Ayumu stepped inside. The lobby was even more lavish and fancy than the building outside! Everything was chrome; the color of rich people. A lady waltzed past them, nose high in the hair. She was dressed from head to toe in solid white. White fuzzy hat, white cocktail dress, sparkly white high heels, white handbag, and of course, the handbag had a little white dog with its head sticking out of it.

"Good Lord, I think we've just walked into a high priced diamond store instead of an apartment complex," Ayumu said under his breath to Hiyono. She couldn't help but utter a smile. It was the first crack he'd made in a long time. The two of them proceeded to the elevator, where the fit inside with Madame White with her little dog and a man wearing a pin stripe suit and had one of those cheesy French mustaches, which he kept twirling the end of. The two teens felt as if the rich people were staring at them in disgust, which they probably were. After all, it wasn't every day that two, dare they say it, _poor_ _people_ were in _their_ elevator! Eyes's apartment was on the very top floor, so the two classy people got of long before Ayumu and Hiyono did. The elevator finally reached the top, and the two stepped into the hall.

"Do you know which apartment is Eyes's?" Hiyono asked.

"No, but I can make a pretty good guess." Ayumu pointed to a teenager girl sneaking around the hall. She tiptoed quietly to a door, kissed and envelope she had in her hand, and slid it under the door. After she had finished her deed, she giggled giddily and raced down the hall to the elevetor.

"Hey," Ayumu said to her. "Is that where Eyes Rutherford lives?" She did another one of those girl giggles and nodded.

"I've just given him a fan letter. Oh, he's so hot!!"

"Did you know he had a girlfriend?" Hiyono inquired. The fangirl's face fell.

"Excuse me?! A WHAT?!"

"Her name is Rio. We know her from school." The fangirl began to tear up.

"No… But that's not fair! I've been waiting for him for so long!" The water works began as she stepped onto the elevator.

"Geez, Hiyono, that was harsh." She shrugged.

"She was bound to find out sometime." The two proceeded down the hall and knocked on the door the fangirl had slipped the letter underneath. Ayumu knocked, and Kousuke opened the door.

"Where's Eyes?" Ayumu asked. Kousuke's eyes shifted towards the back of the apartment.

"Uh, trying to keep Rio from tearing his liver out him. Guess you probably saw the fangirl on your way over here, huh?"

"Yeah." Kousuke opened the door for them.

"Come on it. We're just about to run through the plan."


	20. Plans and Promises

Ron-Angie Martin

**NOTE:** My Inspiration is being nice again, so you can enjoy more fluffiness!! :D Only not nearly as much as chapter 18. I don't think I'll ever top that. Except for maybe in the epilogue. ;) And also, I've deleted my Bleach fanfic for the time being until I finish Love Isn't Logical. The traffic was low, so I figured no one would miss it. I've had a Death Note fanfic idea in mind ever since I saw the pilot episode like in January even though the actual series aired in either November or December. I've also become interested in a new anime series called Gurren Lagann. All I can tell you is that it is definitely written by a dude, most likely an unmarried middle aged one. And my favorite character dies!! That always happens in my favorite animes!!

Ayumu and Hiyono stepped inside Eyes Rutherford's apartment. There were three couches all surrounding a coffee table. Ryoko was sitting on a couch by herself; the spot next to her obviously reserved for Kousuke. Eyes and Rio were sitting on a different one together. Rio had her arms crossed with a very irritated look on her face and was at one end of it, and Eyes was at the other looking like he always did with that "I could care less" look upon his face. Ayumu and Hiyono took the third couch while Kousuke took his spot next to Ryoko.

"Did you finish the bombs?" Kousuke asked, looking across the circle to Rio.

"Yes I did. I made one hundred of them. It took me all night because they were so small." Hiyono raised her eyebrows. She had thought the Blade Children were crafty and ingenious before, but they had really outdone themselves this time. Kousuke drew a blade from his pocket and flipped it around a couple of times in the air.

"I had a chance to practice my knife skills… There was a Hunter spying on us across the street. I thought he might just be an annoying fan of Rutherford's, but once I'd watched him for a while, I figured it was time to go down and introduce myself." Ryoko rolled her eyes and gave him a stern look.

"Is that your answer to everything? Murder? You better not have gotten caught by the police! If you did, we're all gonna be in huge trouble!"

"Relax, I tricked him into following me into a dark alley and finished him off there. No witnesses. And I disposed of the body in a place where no one, and I meant no one, will ever find it. I swear, those Hunters are built like gorillas, but have the IQ of a paramecium. Why Kiyotaka hooked up with them, I have no clue."

"Because with their strength and his mind, they're almost unstoppable," Ayumu finished for him. The group sat in silence for a few moments. That darn awkward silence… Well, not so much awkward as eerie, but you get the picture. Eyes broke the stillness. They had to finish the plan, no matter what.

"The Hunters always call twenty four hours before an attack," he explained. "This time, they called this morning shortly after midnight. We need to be in a spot where we can fight them easily. We've got bombs, knives, strength, and logic. We need an open space." They six teens looked at one another.

"The soccer field?" Ryoko suggested.

"Yeah, but what if we needed to hide behind something? It's just a wide open space all together," Ayumu pointed out.

"The orchard behind the park might possibly work…" Hiyono thought out loud.

"It would, and there are trees there that we could use for cover."

"The orchard it is," Kousuke said.

"Got any paper, Rutherford?" Ayumu asked. Eyes got up and returned a few minutes later with a sheet and a pen.

"OK, here's the orchard," Ayumu said, drawing a map. "Since we don't know which way the Hunters will be attacking, we'll be hiding in the trees. They'll know we're in the orchard somehow, correct?" Eyes nodded. "All right then. We'll have everyone in a different section to alert everyone else. We'll be in a circle sort of shape around the edges." Ayumu drew a few stick figures at one end of the orchard.

"Say they come in through this way. Whoever sees them first will make a bird call to let everyone else know. Then everyone else will wait five seconds, and make a return call. Everyone understand?" They all nodded.

"We should all meet back here at 11 PM, and then we'll go to the orchard to hide out," Eyes said.

"Agreed."

--

It was early evening, and Ayumu and Hiyono were on their way back to their apartment.

"I want to talk to you about the plan," he said to her.

"Huh? What about it?" He stopped and gave her a sharp, yet sort of concerned look.

"I don't want you climbing any trees. You can stand on the ground and watch from there. Stay hidden, though. You can't be seen, or else the whole plan is ruined. Don't forget, Kiyotaka knows your face."

"But I won't be able to see as well on the ground! What if they're coming and I don't see them until too late? Someone could get hurt!" He leaned forward and whispered into her ear.

"For all we know, you could be in a very delicate situation right now. It would be bad for you and the baby if you slipped and accidentally fell." Hiyono gritted her teeth and looked away. This was all her fault. If she hadn't been at the school so late, or stayed with Ayumu, none of this ever would have happened. Now because of her, the plan could possibly fail. Hiyono could never forgive herself if that ever happened.

"Come on, let's go home," Hiyono said as she walked on ahead. She couldn't talk about it anymore. When they got back to the apartment, there was a message on the answering machine. It was from Madoka, saying that she wouldn't be home until later.

"That's just great…" Hiyono thought to herself. She'd never used a pregnancy test before, and wanted to ask about which brand to get. She couldn't very well call her either, because Wataya would probably be around, and she didn't want anyone else finding out. The two went to hang out in Ayumu's room.

"Do you think…" Hiyono began to ask him as the two sat on his bed. "Do you think we'll all make it out alive?"

"Of course we will. All of us, I can't guarantee you, but I'll see to it that we'll get rid of Kiyotaka and his goons, and that we'll definitely survive." Ayumu kissed her and held her in his arms. She certainly hoped they'd both be OK. Hiyono didn't think he heart could take another blow.


	21. Cards and Stalkers

Ron-Angie Martin

**NOTE:** For the last time, I _**CANNOT AND WILL NOT**_ reveal _**ANYTHING**_!! I'm tired of getting reviews asking me if Hiyono is pregnant. Yeah, like I'm just going to come right out and tell you. No way, you'll find out when I feel like telling you! As far as my broken heart thing went, it was all just a big misunderstanding. So what did I get out of it I ask you? A boyfriend. :P Yup, he's my inspiration. But when he calls me he is usually playing video games so I have to sit and listen to that for hours… Unless he isn't playing video games, then he's unusually romantic. And he's precisely four days younger than me. My birthday is December 31 and his is January 4. OK, here's the next chapter. This is really just for comic relief. I'm taking a break for the seriousness.

Madoka had come home drunk around 9 o'clock. Ayumu thought she'd been sobering, but something, or most likely someone, must have really irritated her at work. Well, at least he and Hiyono wouldn't have a problem sneaking out of the house. The two of them played cards until it was time to leave. And of course, Hiyono picked Uno. Ayumu hated that game. It was for little kids! But as always, he had a difficult time saying no to Hiyono, so Uno it was. And it was her turn. Hiyono was eyeing Ayumu suspiciously over her cards as he strummed his fingers on the table. The card last placed was a red four card. Hiyono was down to two cards, and she could either go with a red draw two card, or a wild. She cleverly plotted her strategy, and placed the draw two card. Hiyono had been hanging around with Ayumu for so long, things like strategies came easy to her now.

Ayumu saw through her plot and placed his draw four card, which was also a wild. After changing the color pattern to blue and Hiyono had drawn four cards, he put down a blue six. Hiyono stared at him.

"What?" he asked.

"You didn't say, 'Uno'."

"So?" Hiyono sighed.

"You have to say 'Uno' when you get down to one card. That's the whole point of the game!"

"Who cares?"

"I do!"

"I'm not saying it."

"Fine, then you lose by forfeit!" Ayumu rolled his eyes.

"Uno," he muttered. Hiyono smiled.

"Now was that so hard?" she questioned as she put another blue card down.

"Nope." Ayumu put down his last card. A blue eight. "Looks like I win." Hiyono was flabbergasted. Her jaw dropped in awe.

"Aw, no fair! I want a rematch!" Ayumu glanced up at the clock on the wall. It was nearly 10:45.

"Sorry, looks like we've got to get going." Hiyono began to tense. She had to show Ayumu on this mission that she was of some use to him, not just the irritating bratty little girl sidekick everyone made her out to be. Sure, she wasn't smart or crafty like Ayumu, or quick with a blade like Kousuke, or athletic like Ryoko. But she still could be counted on. Quickly and quietly, Ayumu and Hiyono pulled on their jackets, turned out the lights, and skulked out the door into the night. Outside, the street lamps were lit and hardly a body wandered the streets. Ayumu sensed that Hiyono was more than nervous as she walked wordlessly beside him with her hands at her sides. Taking a hand out of his pocket, he reached out to hers. It helped, but not much. The two arrived at Eyes's apartment shortly thereafter.

The Blade Children buzzed them in. A teenage boy was at the receptionist desk. He had his head propped up on his hand and looked as if he was about to pass out from exhaustion. The boy didn't even notice as Ayumu and Hiyono walked past him and onto the elevator. No snooty people this time. Only them. The hallway leading to Eyes's apartment was empty as well. Or so they thought. It wasn't until they approached the door that they realized that there was a girl laying on the floor. Ayumu accidentally kicked her.

"Hey, what's the big idea?" she asked jumping up. She was all dressed in black to blend in with the darkness, but Hiyono recognized her as the same fangirl from before.

"We could ask you the same thing."

"I saw that Eyes's lights were still on from the street, so I decided to come up here and see if everything was OK." The fangirl went into sort of a pouting state. "But when I knocked on the door a girl with silver pigtails showed up and told me to get lost. I'm guessing she was his girlfriend."

"Well, you'd be right about that. But that still doesn't explain why you were on the floor."

"Oh, that." The fangirl laughed sheepishly. "I was trying to peek under his door. I had to be careful though, because the girlfriend kept spraying mace underneath the door. I got hit once, but I'm OK now. She quit spraying about an hour ago." Ayumu gave Hiyono a weirded out look out of the corner of his eye.

"OK…" he said slowly. "We really need to get inside of there, so if you could just step aside…"

"Sorry, no can do," the fangirl said as she leaned against the door. "I'm sure Eyes will come and tell me to leave eventually. I want to be able to gaze upon his glorious face!" Ayumu shook his head.

"Look, we're friends of his…" He was cut off by Eyes opening the door, causing the fangirl, who was still leaning on it, to fall on top of him. The fangirl's face turned beet red, then she squealed and ran out of there as fast as she could, leaving a baffled pianist on the ground. Rio ran after her with a can of mace.

"Be back in half an hour or we're leaving without you!" Kousuke called after her.

"Don't worry! I'll be back in five minutes!" Rio said as she continued her chase. Ayumu reached out a hand and helped Eyes up.

"That was Haruhi, my stalker," he said. "She's a bit mad, as I'm sure you could tell."

"We could." For the next ten minutes, they sat around and waited for Rio. They talked a bit about the plan, but not much. It was almost better not to think about it. At 11:10, Rio came through the door panting and sweaty.

"Sorry it took me so long," she said breathlessly as she tossed the mace can in the garbage bin. "She runs fast. By the way, Eyes, you need more mace."

"What? Come on, Rio, I just brought you a new can this morning!" Kousuke said in disbelief. Rio shrugged.

"Haruhi's persistent!" After a while, they decided it was best for them to head on over to the park. They could laugh and joke for a while, but they had to enjoy while they could. The battle had yet to come.


	22. Silence Is Beckoning

Ron-Angie Martin

**NOTE: **The name Haruhi actually came from the title character from The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, which is an anime I have just recently become hooked on. If I were to compare the relationship with my boyfriend to that of an amine's, it would definitely be Haruhi and Kyon from TMOHS. Not that Haruhi's a stalker, like in my fanfic. Nope, Haruhi's just your run of the mill alien/time traveler/esper hunter, and president of the SOS Brigade. If you've ever seen the show, you know what I mean. ;) I go back to school tomorrow… BLEAH! As I type this, I am listening to the song Everybody's Fool by Evanescence. I don't know why, but the melody goes well with the "walking to the park" scene.

The six teens walked to the park in the stone cold silence of the dark night. Their destiny awaited them just beyond the park, in the little orchard. The light breeze gently pushed one of the swings, and Hiyono was reminded of her childhood. She definitely wasn't a child anymore. Tonight Hiyono was going to prove that to everyone. Especially Ayumu.

They six came to a fence just in front of the orchard. The gate was a long way away, and rather find it, they all climbed over it. Ayumu went before Hiyono, and watched her carefully. If she fell, she could hurt herself, and the baby, if there was one. He didn't want to admit it to himself at first, but Hiyono really could be pregnant. It wasn't unlikely. And if she was, he had to take it upon himself to watch over the child. It wasn't like Kiyotaka was going to do it. Especially not after tonight.

When everyone had made it over the fence safely, the group moved on towards the copse of trees. When they reached it, Ayumu addressed everyone.

"OK, we're going to have to spread out to get a good look around us. The orchard is in somewhat of a hexagon shape, so everyone just take a point. And don't forget the signal in case you see something." They all did the bird whistle quietly. "Good. Now split up." Ayumu stayed with Hiyono until the others were gone.

"Stay on the ground, OK?" he said to her. "I don't want you to get into any danger. Promise?" Hiyono gritted her teeth. She didn't want to lie to Ayumu, but she wasn't going to stick around out of harm's way while everyone else was fighting. That's how it always had been, and Hiyono wasn't going to stand for it anymore.

"I promise." She lied anyway.

"Good." Ayumu kissed her on the lips, then turned his back and walked to his corner, leaving Hiyono standing there in the darkness.

"I'm sorry, Ayumu," Hiyono whispered to herself as she climbed the apple tree right in front of her. If she was going to help, she was going to have to break a few rules, whether Ayumu liked it or not.

--

Ayumu put his hands in his jacket pockets as he left Hiyono standing alone. A cold shiver passed through his body. He knew Hiyono wasn't going to listen to him, even though he made her promise. She was going to climb the tree anyway. He knew, but he couldn't stop her. If he went back to confront her, it would show a lack of trust. And that was the last thing Ayumu wanted right now. So instead, he kept walking.

Ayumu reached his tree. He grabbed a low hanging branch and pulled himself up. Climbing trees was not rocket science for Ayumu. When he was a kid, he spent most of his time up in trees reading mystery novels and manga. Reaching the top, his jacket snagged on a branch. Ayumu worked it loose, and popped his head out above the rustling leaves. The two corner trees on either side of Hiyono had been taken by Eyes to her right and Ryoko to her left, so Ayumu had to take the one next to Ryoko. From there, he might have been able to make out Hiyono's head in the middle of the day, but now it was too dark to see. He couldn't even see Ryoko, or Rio, who was to his left. But it didn't matter if he could see them or not. It only mattered if he could see the Hunters and his brother.

--

Kousuke's hand trembled as he felt the knife handle in his hand. Sure, he'd battled Hunters before, but not like this. And not with Kiyotaka leading them.

"_If it's enough to make me shake a little, it must be killing Hiyono,"_ he thought. But then he thought wiser. Hiyono wasn't just your average little helpless girl. No way, she could be quite fierce when she wanted to be. Like the time she'd pulled a stun gun on him when he'd kidnapped her at the hospital. Kousuke still hadn't forgotten that, but he's let it go. The only thing he didn't get was why Ayumu still treated her like a baby. It was probably because he loved her. Anyone, even Kousuke, could see that. But then again, he didn't blame him for wanting to protect her. If anything ever happened to Ryoko, Kousuke didn't think he could bear to forgive himself. Which is why he had to fight like hell tonight.

--

Rio slid the backpack containing a thousand mini bombs off her back, setting it gently on the tree limb in front of her so as not to detonate them. She tilted her head back and stole a glance at the stars. They twinkled so beautifully and so bright. A small tear trickled down the girl's cheek. Rio may have been one of the most merciless of the Blade Children, but she still had feelings. In fact, she was downright scared of what was to come.

Rio always made a big deal about not believing in God in order to maintain her tough girl image, but deep down, she knew there was always something out there, whether it was God or someone else. Rio wiped her tear-stained face and whispered a prayer.

"Please God, or whoever is listening, if you can, please help us. I know I shouldn't be talking to you. I know I've done horrible things. I'm a murderer and a Blade Child, which makes me and outcast as it is. Kousuke is just as bad as me, but please, he deserves to live. And Eyes and Ryoko are Blade Children too, but they're very nice and kind. And Ayumu and Hiyono have never done anything bad. So please save them too. As for me, I don't deserve to live. Please, just save my friends."

--

Ryoko was carefully scanning the distance for signs of Hunters. So far, she found none. But that didn't mean they weren't out there. It meant that they were being crafty. Hunters were just a bunch of thugs, but Kiyotaka was leading them this time. That could only mean trouble. Images of violence crossed her mind, but she pushed them out of her head. Ryoko was a Blade Child since birth, but was adopted after her parents died. Since she'd been the lucky one out of the four of them, Ryoko tried to stay away from the ways of the Blade Children. She made a vow long ago that she would never kill anyone. Would she have to break that promise to herself tonight?

--

Eyes's snow-white hair caught the spring night's breeze and caressed it. He truly did look like a prince atop a tree in the radiant moonlight. But after tonight, he may not look so princely anymore. In fact, the world may not have an Eyes Rutherford anymore. Many people would surely be devastated if the world-renowned teenage pianist were to die, especially Haruhi. No doubt Rio would keep her away from his funeral. Besides, she was the only one he ever cared about. Rio. It was true, sometimes he would let his fangirls get the best of him, which would set Rio off, but they never meant a thing to him. No one did. Except for her.

--

Hiyono was on her guard. No doubt the others were looking too. If she could only spot the Hunters before everyone else… Figures in the distance caught Hiyono's attention. Could it possibly be? There were obviously a lot of them, and from what Hiyono could tell, they were carrying something. Weapons, no doubt. But it was definitely them. The Hunters had arrived. The battle was about to commence.


	23. Moonlight Crusade

Ron-Angie Martin

**NOTE: **Well isn't my life just a waltz in the park this week? My boyfriend dumped me because he was still too in love with his old girlfriend, and the funny thing is, he asked ME out. And the best part is, he posted all over his myspace WHILE we were dating about how much he was still in love with his old girlfriend and he would kill himself for her and I meant nothing to him. I guess he just didn't think I would ever find out, seeing as I don't have a myspace. His old girlfriend, who hates him, is a close buddy of mine and she told me everything. And then Cheese, my beloved kitten who was born with a birth defect, died while I was at school yesterday. I made a tribute to him on youtube called In Memory of Cheese by BuffaloBunnyInc. I love him and I miss him already. :( (Also, be sure to watch Doll House Drama on my channel!! :P)

Hiyono ducked down into the trees and whistled the signal. It carried through the orchard and to the others, who were waiting in silence. Everyone else waited a few seconds, and then returned the call. They were ready, not matter how scared they were. Running in fear was never an option, especially not now. Their lives were on the line here.

Being up in the tree, Hiyono suddenly realized that she needed to think of some kind of fighting power, and quickly. She knew she wasn't alone in this department either, though Ayumu and Eyes had most likely figured theirs out by now. She took a quick glance around. Lemons! Hiyono was sitting in a lemon tree! She quickly picked some and held them in her lap. It wasn't much, but it could possibly contribute somewhat. Then the thought occurred to Hiyono that she should probably use her lemons as a last resort. The Hunters had guns or some kind of weapon no doubt. They would just blast her out of the tree if she pelted them with fruit. She sighed. Ayumu was right. She was only getting in the way. Hiyono crouched down in the branches and kept herself hidden.

--

Kiyotaka watched from a hill afar as the Hunters began to invade the orchard. He laughed to himself. This was much too easy. He had hoped his little brother would put up a better fight, but after all, he was only second to Kiyotaka himself. He tossed back his brown hair, which was whipping his face in the night breeze. Kiyotaka Narumi always won, one way or another.

--

An explosion went of somewhere in the orchard. Rio had obviously just blown the head off a Hunter or two.

"_Oh well, a few more less to deal with,"_ Kousuke thought. He was face to face with his own Hunter. Kousuke's opponent was a smidge taller than he, and had wavy blonde hair and a nice bit of stubble. These Hunters always seemed to look like supermodels.

"Sorry to have to end this so soon," the Hunter said as he pointed a gun in Kousuke's face. "But I have some more business to take care of regarding Lord Kiyotaka's little brother." Kousuke scoffed.

"Lord? So that bastard traitor is a Lord now, is he?" Kousuke shrugged with a cute grin on his face. "Well then I guess you won't mind dying for such a noble character then." The Hunter laughed.

"Oh please, like you could ever kill me. You're just a kid." He placed his finger on the trigger and fired. Kousuke grabbed a low hanging branch and swung himself up, dodging it. But just barely. "Come on, kid, I can't play cat and mouse with you all night!" the Hunter mocked him.

"My bad, I guess we should just end the game now." With a cat like ferocity, Kousuke leaped out of the tree onto the Hunter, pinning him to the ground. The Hunter dropped his gun in the fall. "Tsk, tsk, you picked the wrong Blade Child to mess with, pal." Kousuke slit the Hunter's throat as he heard another of Rio's bombs going off. The look of surprise mixed with terror was still etched on his face as he died. One down, a whole lot more to go.

--

Rio was silently skulking through the trees like a tiger hunting its prey. The Blade Children _were_ somewhat catlike, after all. A bunch of young, attractive, scared looking Hunters, probably not much older than Rio herself, were standing back to back. All three of them had shaky hands on their guns and were nervously pointing them this way and that. Rio forced down a laugh. This was way too easy! She was about to throw a mini bomb at them, when there was a rustling in the bushes. Rio waited a moment and retreated back into the branches. The young Hunters all pointed their guns and began firing, just as another Hunter emerged from the bushes. The fourth hunter was full of lead at this point. His eyes rolled back in his head as he staggered backwards and died.

"You killed him!" one of the young Hunters exclaimed wide eyed. One of the other two gave him a fierce look.

"What do you mean we killed him? You were firing your gun just as much as we were!" The three of them began to argue as Rio watched. They were obviously new to this whole Hunter business, and she began to wonder why Kiyotaka chose these nimrods to do his dirty work for him. But eventually, she tired of their bickering and tossed a mini bomb right in the center of them. They all stared at it, and one idiot even dared to pick it up.

"What do you think this is?" he asked.

"I don't know. Let me have a look at it." The other Hunter took it from the one who found it and held it up close to his eye, just as it went off. Rio began to laugh hysterically. She couldn't believe how dumb they were. The bomb had managed to blow the head off the one who was holding it when it went off, and had killed the one who had found it. The third Hunter was sprawled out on the ground. He was still alive, but just barely. Rio hopped down from the tree and stood over the last Hunter. His bright blue eyes stared back at her.

"You're one of them…" he said weakly.

"Yup, name's Rio Takeuchi. And I'm one of the Blade Children. But don't worry. I'm not going to kill you. You're pretty beaten up from that bomb, so you'll die in a few minutes anyway. As for me, I've got some other Hunters to kill. Thanks for taking care of you comrade for me! Less work for me and my buddies!" Rio winked cutely and returned to her spot in the trees. She began to hop around, looking for more Hunters to destroy.

--

Ryoko was hiding behind the trunk of a tree, holding her right arm. A Hunter had slashed her with a knife when she was preoccupied with another one. She wasn't about to let them defeat her, so she took off when she could. Ryoko looked at the hand that had been covering her wound. It was coated in blood.

"Crap," she muttered. Ryoko wasn't going to be of use to anyone if she was going to bleed to death up in that tree. But what could she do? There was a sudden rustle in the leaves on the tree behind her. Ryoko froze. She couldn't fight back. If it was a Hunter, she was dead.

--

Eyes had followed the trail of blood. It was dripping all over the place, so it wasn't hard. However, he had stayed a steady distance. He wasn't sure if it was a comrade, a Hunter, or even just a wounded animal. But whatever the injured creature was, was sitting in the tree directly in front of him. He lay in wait until it moved and he could see it better. It was Ryoko. Eyes carefully picked his way along the branches until he could get to her. He saw Ryoko's body tense up when she heard him.

"It's me," he said as he sat on the branch in front of her. A look of relief crossed Ryoko's face.

"Good, I thought you were a Hunter." Eyes eyed her arm where the cut was. He turned to the tree and ripped off a piece of bark. He then handed it to Ryoko and told her to compress it against her wound.

"To stop the bleeding," he added.

"Thanks." They sat in silence for a minute. Not the awkward silence, the kind of silence where two friends are sitting in a tree and one of them if bleeding profusely and the both of them are wondering if the people looking to kill them and their friends are nearby, but they don't really want to say anything to one another, for fear of looking like a coward. That kind of silence, because we all know it's so common. Eyes finally broke the silence.

"Did you… have to break your promise?" he asked her. She shook her head.

"No, I didn't. I banged up a guy pretty bad, but I didn't have to kill anyone."

"You realize that as a Blade Child, you probably won't be able to keep that vow forever?" Ryoko gritted her teeth. Eyes could be so aggravating sometimes. He was talking to her as if that thought had never crossed her mind. Of course it had!

"I'll keep it for as long as I can." Ryoko pressed the bark hard against her skin. "But for now, I'm going to try not to bleed to death."

--

Ayumu was frantically scanning the area for Hiyono. He hadn't seen her since right before the attack when he made her promise not to climb any trees. He knew she hadn't listened, but not being able to find her made him worry. And it wasn't like Ayumu could call her either. Not without one of those bastard Hunters finding out, at least.

Ayumu had caught a few glimpses of Rio's silver hair floating in the moonlight a couple of times, and his sight was confirmed by the sounds of explosions shortly thereafter. He'd seen bodies of Hunters littered around the orchard floor, some with their heads blown off, some slit at the throat, and he knew the Blade Children had been there at some point. Ayumu could even swear he saw one strangled with piano wire. Oh well, Eyes had to do something. But finding Hiyono was his goal at the moment.

That's when Ayumu saw him. Standing on a hill about an eighth of a mile in the distance, was a figure. His identity was unveiled by the moonlight. Ayumu instantly forgot about Hiyono and gave chase towards the figure.

--

Hiyono was still in the lemon tree, armed with said fruit. She'd been hearing cries of the dying and explosions for the past hour or so, but hadn't had to deal with any Hunters so far. Either she was well hidden, or they weren't after her. Either way, Hiyono didn't care as long as she was OK. As long as Ayumu was OK.

And that's when Hiyono saw him dashing out of the forest like a mad wildebeest. He was running away from something. Or _to_ something. Hiyono scanned the horizon to see where Ayumu was running. The hill. No, the person on the hill. She saw him too. Who knew what Ayumu would do once he got to him? Scratch that, Hiyono knew. She dropped all of the fruit she was holding and jumped out of the tree, trailing after Ayumu the second she hit the ground. Hiyono wasn't about to let either of them get away from her. Not again.


	24. The Battle Within

Ron-Angie Martin

**NOTE:** Well, I'll be rapping up this fanfic in the next few chapters or so. It'll definitely be over by 30. So now I've been asking myself: What fanfic should I write next? I'm either going to resume working on my Bleach one, a KaminaxYoko Gurren Lagann one about how Yoko deals with Kamina's death and ends up in some sort of dream state (I really don't know how to describe it, you'd have to read it), a Death Note one which is about the girl who almost got raped in the first episode, but Light saved her, or I'm gonna make a Haruhi one that will be ItsukixOC, and the OC will be based on me because I'm the biggest (and probably only) Itsuki fangirl EVER. And I've been having weird dreams about him anyway. Well, you vote on which one I should write next. Also, my English teacher said I could spice up my writing by using the word 'nefarious' so I did. :P

Hiyono struggled to keep up with Ayumu and his brother. They were fast enough as it is, but with this new driven force for one to escape and the other to catch the first, it was extremely difficult. But she couldn't let them get away from her. Ayumu couldn't beat Kiyotaka on his own. And he knew that.

Hiyono finally made it to the top of the hill where Kiyotaka had originally stood. She could see the both of them from there. The elder brother was far off in the distance, and the younger was picking up speed- and fast. She continued to pursue them.

After a few minutes, but what seemed like a lifetime, both the boys ran to the school and disappeared inside. Why the school? Hiyono hadn't the faintest idea. So of course, being the kind of person Hiyono was, she followed them inside. However, the fact that she arrived much later than the Narumi brothers meant that she was left alone to wander the dark corridors by herself. She hadn't thought anything of the eerie stillness that awaited her until she set foot inside the building through the gym door, which was always left unlocked. Some security.

Inching in the door, toe by toe, Hiyono shuddered at the creepiness of this place. Who knew what nefarious creature could be lurking in the shadows. But now was no time to be afraid. Hiyono bravely marched through the gym and kept on walking.

She'd been through these halls countless times, but it all seemed so different in the stillness of the shadows. There were no teachers, no students, no teachers yelling at said students… It was like a totally different world. She heard some shouting from and upstairs classroom, followed by a loud crash. No doubt about it. Ayumu and Kiyotaka were already fighting each other. Better hurry.

Hiyono closed her eyes and pictured the halls during the daylight. She knew where she was and ran with her eyes shut until she reached the stairs, and preceded to climb. The crashing continued, so Hiyono had no problem locating the classroom, even in the dark. The two were in the Senior English room.

Hiyono hurled open the door. The lights were off. Probably so each brother thought he had the upper hand, and while that was true, each had a disadvantage as well. As far as Hiyono could tell, the two had been chucking books at each other. They stopped once they noticed Hiyono's presence. The room was in silence for a moment. And yet it was not completely awkward.

"Well, well, it seems the little flower has decided to join us, little brother," said a voice that Hiyono recognized as her attacker. Kiyotaka. It came from the corner of the room, but in no time at all, he was next to Hiyono. He flipped on the light and cupped her chin in his hands, and forced her to look at him.

"Hello my darling, you remember me, don't you?" Hiyono's eyes flooded with fear as she recalled that horrible evening. Her knees began to shake.

"Get your filthy hands off of her!" Ayumu said as he kicked his brother in the ribs. Or at least, he attempted too. Kiyotaka grabbed his foot and sent him hurtling into the wall. The older brother managed to do that while still keeping a hand on Hiyono.

"Now, my flower, where were we?" Kiyotaka moved in to kiss Hiyono, when Ayumu kicked him again, this time successfully. The elder let go of Hiyono and was sent into the hallway. This time, it was he who was thrown into the wall. Ayumu turned to her.

"Hiyono, I'm not going to say this again. Get out of here." Kiyotaka jumped up from the wall and began to run down the corridor. Ayumu went after him, leaving Hiyono standing there alone. She backed up a few steps, then with her back against the wall, slid down it and sat on the floor. She'd stared her rapist in the face, and completely broke down. How was she going to be of any help to Ayumu if she couldn't even kick him where it hurts when she had the chance?

--

After Ayumu began chasing Kiyotaka

Ayumu locked his vision on and never lost sight of his older brother. He was going to pay, one way or another. Somehow, it didn't surprise him when Kiyotaka began to make his way towards the school, or when he entered it through the gym door. Although nowadays, nothing surprised about his brother surprised him.

It was dark inside of the school, but somehow, he knew where Kiyotaka was. It was like a sixth sense, or something. Scrambling up the stairs, Ayumu followed his older brother into a classroom. It was dark inside, of course. Kiyotaka never did like to play fair, even when they played board games as children. Ayumu stepped inside, and Kiyotaka closed the door, making the younger jump.

"Well, well, we meet again little brother," the elder said, as the moonlight reflected from his face, making him look very nefarious. "I understand you're upset with me. Now tell me, why is that?"

"You bastard! You broke Madoka's heart, then you raped Hiyono!" Kiyotaka smirked.

"Oh yes. Madoka was one thing, but I'd almost forgotten about your little whore." Ayumu went into a fury.

"Don't you _dare_ talk about Hiyono that way!"

"Oh my, it seems my little brother has fallen in love. Did I ever have 'the talk' with you?"

"The only talk you'll be having is with my fist!" Ayumu was tired of being mocked. He sent a punch his brother's way, who easily dodged it. Kiyotaka sighed.

"Always so testy, little brother." The two continued to fight in the dark. At one point, Ayumu realized that he no longer knew where Kiyotaka was. He had simply vanished into the creeping darkness. That is, until a huge dictionary went sailing past his cranium and slammed into the wall.

"_When did Kiyotaka become so low that he would throw fracking books, for crying out loud?!"_ Ayumu thought loudly as his pupils doubled when he realized what could've happened if his brother had actually hit his target. So, he picked up the dictionary, which was quite heavier than he thought it was, and chucked it back. The two went on like that for some time, that is, until Hiyono opened the door.

You know the story from there.

--

Ayumu chased Kiyotaka back down the stairs to the gym. He figured the elder was going to escape into the night, but surprisingly, the gym was illuminated when he arrived. Kiyotaka was standing atop the basketball goal. How he got up there, Ayumu had no clue.

"Hello, brother!" he said, as he withdrew a gun from his jacket. Ayumu froze. He and Kiyotaka had had their spats in the past, but this was the first time he'd drawn a gun on him.

"You really are evil…" Ayumu muttered. Kiyotaka got a twisted look in his eye.

"No, actually, I'm delightfully mad." And with that, he fired a few shots.


	25. Hiyono Takes Charge

Ron-Angie Martin

**NOTE:** I think I'm gonna go with the Death Note fanfic. I haven't seen a single episode with Gurren Lagann with it with Nia because I've just got to episode 8, which was totally rockin'!! Except for when Kamina died. :( But he made out with Yoko shortly before that, which made me happy. Hey, you know what would be totally rockin'?! A combo of the Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya and Maximum Ride!! The latter is a book series about mutant bird children. But seriously, that would be awesome.

Ayumu sank to his knees and grabbed his right shoulder. That stupid bastard had nailed him. Right in his upper arm. The other two shots had made little holes in the gym floor that were now smoking. Ayumu's eyes traveled from the floor up to where his older brother stood atop the basketball goal, pistol in the air, with a cheerful smile plastered on his face. That when the thought occurred to Ayumu. This was the same method used on Ryoko: three shots fired, one to hit him, but not in a fatal spot, and two as a warning. It was twisted, but so was Kiyotaka.

"_Good thing Hiyono got out of here,"_ Ayumu thought as he felt the blood seep over his hand. And as if on cue, Hiyono stepped into the gym.

"Ah, so nice of you to join us!" Kiyotaka said. He was starting to remind Ayumu of Kanone. Except for maybe the fact that his brother seemed to lack Kanone's enthusiasm for cats. But that was probably a good thing. Hiyono swallowed hard, and walked bravely to where Ayumu sat crouched on the ground. Facing her fears was only the start. She stood beside Ayumu and stared into the eyes of his brother. No, what was once his brother. Kiyotaka had been mentally warped over the past three years. Hiyono pointed an accusing finger up at him.

"You! I'm tired of you hurting everyone! What gives you the cause for it? Just because you want to 'rid the world of the Blade Children?' What did they ever do to you? Sure, they're a bunch of troubled teens, a few of them are even murderers! But that's only because they're trying to survive! They didn't choose to be born! If you kill the Blade Children, you're wiping out an entire race of people! What good will that do anyone?!" Ayumu couldn't believe it. After all the time he'd spent protecting her, she was repaying him by standing up to Kiyotaka, whose name struck fear into most people's hearts. Could this really be the same Hiyono he knew and loved?

Ayumu was secretly hoping that this would end like a sappy Disney movie. Not the classic Disney, which is freaking electric, but the modern Disney, where all the crap is about winy teens with problems that they can't solve themselves. You know how they're up against an evil opponent and the hero makes a speech about love or justice or truth, sometimes all three rolled into one, and the villain is just so touched that he changes his wicked ways and he and the hero become friends? Sorta like that one obnoxious chick with the double identity whose voice sounded like nails grinding together. What was her name? Brianna Louisiana? Oh well, he just hoped that no one else would get hurt in this whole mess of utter chaos. But he knew if that happened, it would be too good to be true. This wasn't TV, it was reality. And in reality, there is no one to save you at the last minute. If the bad guy had a gun and was pointing it in your face, you were pretty much done for.

"Well you've put me at a loss for words here," Kiyotaka said as he tapped the pistol to his face, as if pondering the situation. Ayumu looked up. Could this be? Was this really going to be a cheesy Disney ending? Was there really going to be no more violence and murder? Kiyotaka then jumped down from the basketball goal, only feet from Hiyono and Ayumu. "However, as I had just finished explaining to my little brother here moments before you arrived, I'm delightfully mad!" Ayumu's hope faded away. Of course it was too good to be true. Hiyono stood her ground. No way she was letting this creep get to her a second time.

"I'm not scared of you," she said fiercely. Kiyotaka laughed.

"You should be!" He fired a single shot this time, aimed directly towards the girl's skull. Hiyono missed it by ducking and lunging towards him. Hiyono head butted him in the stomach, and he fell backwards. Ayumu noticed that his brother's eyes had whitened in shock. He genuinely really didn't expect to miss, let alone have Hiyono hit him back.

Hiyono was lying on top of the stunned Kiyotaka on the gym floor. The fall had knocked the pistol out of his hand, which was now lying inches away. But she had him arms pinned, so it was just out of his reach. He struggled to get it, but failed. So he resorted to taunting her, just to see if he could break her spirit; and her hold on him.

"Well, looks like you're returning the favor for that wonderful night we spent together all that time ago!" Kiyotaka said, his eyes flaming with insanity. Hiyono didn't falter. Instead, she moved so that she was sitting on top of his chest, and then with her arm that was holding his which was farthest from the gun, she gave him a good punch to the face.

"You're a sick bastard!"

"Thank you, I'm so pleased you noticed." Hiyono gave him a couple of more good socks. As Ayumu watched from a few feet away, he realized that Hiyono was beginning to loose her grip on his brother. It was time for the younger brother to step in. He hated being the spectator. This must have been how Hiyono felt all the time. It was no wonder she snapped and began to fight back. Ayumu slowly staged upwards, then walked towards where Kiyotaka and Hiyono were tussling and the gun lay. The two froze as they watched Ayumu lean over to pick it up.

But just as his fingers brushed it, Kiyotaka wildly managed to throw off Hiyono, roll to the side, and use a foot sweep to make Ayumu loose his balance. The last mentioned struggled to keep erect, and finally succeeded. He kicked the pistol out of his brother's way just as he was about to grab it. It skidded across the floor and hit the wall with a soft, _thud_. Hiyono ran to pick it up. Kiyotaka jumped up. His eyes were inches away from Ayumu's.

"You crustacean!" The elder shouted. "You… You… idiot!" With a sickening roar, Kiyotaka made his hand completely flat and chopped Ayumu in the back of the neck. The younger brother swayed there for a moment, then his eyes closed and he crumpled to the floor. And all Hiyono could do was watch. She felt as if she were watching the whole thing in slow motion. Before she knew what she was doing, Hiyono ran and jumped on Kiyotaka's back. Immediately, he struggled to get her off. But she held on. For Ayumu.

"You little whore! I'm tired of you ruining my fun! Now get off of me or I will kill you!"

"Never!" Hiyono shouted back. Kiyotaka ran backwards until he hit the wall and began to slam Hiyono into it. But she still didn't let go. She couldn't. After a while, Kiyotaka could not longer support her weight and try to get her off. He succumbed and fell flat on his face, with Hiyono still on his back. She pointed the pistol into the back of his head, with tears streaming down her face.

"You ruined my whole life. Everything I wanted, everything I dreamed… It's all gone now. All because of you!"

"Shut up…"

"No, you shut up! Right after you raped me, I lost my voice. I couldn't talk for the longest time. I had to write everything down like a freaking monkey! Shortly after that, my parents died. And then… Oh, this is just the strawberry on the cake." Hiyono pressed the gun harder into Kiyotaka's head. "Congrats, you're going to be a father." They sat there like that for a few minutes.

"And after all that, I hate you. I hate you like I've never hated anyone before. But I can't kill you. I can't bring myself to take anyone else's life, not ever. All human life is precious, even if the person is as despicable and evil as you." Hiyono slowly got off of him and stood up. "No get out of here." He slowly rose and stood in silence. Hiyono began to where Ayumu lay. She knelt next to him and smoothed his hair.

"_Who does this slut thinks she is?"_ Kiyotaka thought to himself._ "She thinks she's all noble just because she spared my life? I'll show her!"_ He let out a yell of ferocity and ran towards Hiyono. She fell on her back in surprise. Kiyotaka jumped. He was going to kill her once and for all. Hiyono realized she still had the gun. Instinctively, she held it in front of her with her eyes squeezed shut. Then she heard the sound of a gun going off, and felt some kind of liquid splatter her face. After that, something heavy landed on her. It was then Hiyono realized that without thinking about it, she had shot Kiyotaka. His cold, hard eyes, stared back at her.

"You… You got me…" he said in surprise. And then he died.


	26. Truth

Ron-Angie Martin

**NOTE: **Wow, two chapters in one day. That's a first. Well it _is_ a Saturday. I finally got to see The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor today. Every other time I went to go see it, something happened that caused me not to be able to see it. I loved it! My favorite part is at the end where Jonathon decides to move from China and says, "I hate mummies! I'm moving to Peru!" And then a sign flashes by and says, "Shortly after, mummies were discovered in Peru." It was hilarious! :P

Hiyono almost passed out from shock and terror. Kiyotaka's sightless eyes stared back at her. He couldn't see her, but those eyes looking back at her reminded her of that terrible night so long ago. And now she had killed him. Hiyono Yuizaki was a murderer.

She knew what would happen. Everyone would sympathize with her, and tell her she did it in self-defense. No legal action would be taken. But how would Hiyono ever be able to face Ayumu again? She had killed his only brother. Not that he would care. Heck, he'd probably even thank her for it. But Hiyono had blood on her hands. She was still a murderer.

"Oh geez, Hiyono!" said a voice. Hiyono recognized it as Rio's. That was one Blade Child who survived the battle.

"I'll call an ambulance," said Kousuke. Make that two. Rio struggled to lift Kiyotaka's lifeless corpse off of poor Hiyono, who still had the murder weapon enclosed in her cold, shaking, numb, hands.

"You killed Kiyotaka?" Rio whispered. Hiyono squeezed her eyes shut as she felt the tears begin to flow down her dirt and blood stained face. Rio rolled Kiyotaka's body so it was face down and then helped Hiyono to sit up. "It's OK… It's all over now." Kousuke snapped his cell phone shut.

"They'll be here as fast as they can." Hiyono noticed there was something different about him. Something missing.

"The others…" Hiyono remembered. Rio shook her head.

"We're the only ones left," she said quietly. So that was it then. Eyes and Ryoko were dead. The world was short one celebrity and one athlete.

"They were hiding in a tree when some Hunter spotted them and decided that he should explode it. Apparently, they had a few bombs we weren't aware of," Kousuke said solemnly. Then he shrugged. "But fortunately, he had the honor of meeting old faithful." He drew his bloody knife and tossed it across the gym floor. Maybe it was her imagination, but Hiyono thought she saw a tear role down the redhead's cheek.

The ambulance arrived shortly after Kousuke's call. Kiyotaka was placed in a body bag, and Ayumu, who was still unconscious was rushed to the hospital. Hiyono, Rio, and Kousuke went with them, though their injuries were a lot less serious. As soon as she was able, Hiyono went into Ayumu's room. Kousuke and Rio had left soon after they were treated. They weren't the type to hang around one place for too long. Especially now. They had some grieving of their own to do. Hiyono stepped inside the room.

Ayumu was lying in the bed with an IV attached to the arm where Kiyotaka had shot him. He still hadn't woken up. Hiyono sat down in the chair across from the bed and gazed upon him. He looked so peaceful. Madoka walked into the room. Hiyono stood up when she saw her. Neither woman knew what to say. They just stared at each other. But the silence was not awkward. It was just too hard to say anything right then.

"_She must hate me…"_ Hiyono thought. _"She has too. I even hate me right now…"_ Madoka took a few slow steps towards Hiyono. _"Here it comes… She's going to kill me…"_ Hiyono closed her eyes and waited for the final blow that would finish her off. But it never came. Instead, Madoka wrapped her arms around the girl, and held her close. Hiyono's eyes flung open in shock. She said nothing. Slowly raising her arms, Hiyono hugged Madoka bag. The two women stood there in silence, in a quite embrace.

Ayumu had to spend the night in the hospital, but he woke up the very next day. The doctors insisted that he stay one more night, to which he reluctantly agreed with some lecturing from Madoka, of course. But the day after that, he practically pushed the nurses and doctors down trying to get released from that awful place. Then the three of them went home, and they were a family once again.

The day after Ayumu was released, Madoka went out and bought a pregnancy test for Hiyono. They had to get this matter solved once and for all. Madoka was in the bathroom showing Hiyono how to use it, while Ayumu was lounging on the couch, waiting impatiently. After a few minutes, but seemed like an hour, Madoka came out and joined him on the couch.

"How long will this take?" Ayumu asked her. She glanced up and the clock on the wall. "Well, first she's got to go to the bathroom, and after that we've go about thirty seconds or so. Give or take." He sighed and slammed his head on the back of the couch.

"Ayumu," Madoka said, looking at him. "What are you going to do if the test if positive?" He looked at her out of the corner of his eye.

"First I'm going to take her to the doctor, and if she confirms it, then I'm going to tell everyone the baby's mine." Madoka gave Ayumu a concerned look.

"Are you sure that's the best idea? Everyone's going to look at you differently from now on." Ayumu scoffed.

"And since when do I give a damn about everybody else?" He had her there.

"But it's _not_ your baby. It will never be _your_ baby. Kiyotaka is the father. I know how hard it is to admit that. But Hiyono's baby was not conceived out of love. What happened to Hiyono was cruel and sick, and it couldn't have happened to a nicer girl, but whatever she decides to do with the child is her decision. You have no right to tell her what to do." Ayumu opened his mouth to say something when the bathroom door flung open. The two heads on the couch turned and looked at her. She stared back.

"Well?" Ayumu asked. Everyone's heart was pounding. This was the moment of truth. A smile broke out on Hiyono's face. It was the first one Ayumu had seen in a long while. She leaped over the couch, sandwiching herself between Ayumu and Madoka. She kissed him full on the mouth and shouted,

"It's a negative!"


	27. My Heart Will Go On

Ron-Angie Martin

**NOTE:** You want fluff? I give you fluff. Also, this is my third chapter in one day. That's a new personal best for me! Well enough of this romance stuff, I'm going to go watch Saw III.

"I know pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride." Madoka grabbed Wataya by the necktie, and pulled him close. She kissed him smack on the lips. The congregation began to clap. Ayumu winked at Hiyono, who was the maid of honor, from his spot as the best man. She sent a sweet smile in his direction. Two years had past since the story's previous events had taken place. Madoka had finally given in to Wataya's constant begging for her to date him, and to surprise, found that he could be quite charming. Ayumu and Hiyono were both in their respective freshman and sophomore years at college. All was well.

After the wedding, as everyone commonly knows, was the reception. What a reception it was. It took place on a ship out on a friend's large lake. The entire police force was there, and Kousuke and Rio even made an appearance. Kousuke was on his last year of college, training to join the police force. After Ryoko's death, he had sworn not to kill others, but to put those kinds of people behind bars. And as for Rio, she had taken up learning to play the piano. She still wasn't as good as her late love, but she was getting better and better. Her first original song was entitled, _Taishite Metsuki, For Eyes_.

At the reception, the six of them sat at a table together. It seemed inappropriate to have anyone else there. They hadn't been through what all of them had. But it was nice.

Madoka was having fun being a bride for the second time. She laughed and joked as she put a white, elbow length, gloved arm around her new husband's neck. He kissed her on the cheek. The band played _Nearer My God To Thee_. Madoka had recently fallen in love with the movie, _Titanic_, and demanded that the song be played at the reception, despite it being the song played by the band as the ship was sinking. The song ended, and Madoka put a finger to her lips.

"Shhhhh! You guys, this is the best part! I had to pay a little extra to get them to do this, but it was so totally worth it! The rest of the reception started clapping as they turned to the band who had finished playing. The violinist held up a hand to stop the applause, then turned back to the band.

"Gentleman," his voice rang out over the microphone. "It has been a privilege playing with you tonight." The rest of the band looked at each other and sighed. The things they had to do for the enjoyment of the bride. Then all of them set down their instruments, walked to the edge of the ship, and jumped off. Everyone gasped, except Madoka who was rolling on the floor laughing and holding her sides.

"Oh my gosh," she said in between giggles. "I can't believe they actually did it!" Wataya blinked and looked from his new bride to Ayumu, who shrugged.

"Hey, don't look at me," he said. "She's _your_ problem now." Wataya groaned and buried his head in his arms on the table while Madoka continued to laugh maniacally. Fortunately, a lifeboat had been waiting nearby to rescue the poor members of the band. The speakers came on and began to play _Titanic_'s theme, My Heart Will Go On. Hiyono got up and left the dining area as soon as Celine Dion's voice began to fill the ship.

_Every night in my dreams  
I see you, I feel you_

_That is how I know you go on_

She walked to the bow of the ship, and gazed out at the setting sun on the lake ahead of them.

_Far across the distance and spaces between us  
You have come to show you go on_

Hiyono was joined shortly after by Ayumu, who put his hands around her waist and held her close.

_Near far wherever you are  
I believe that the heart does go on_

"It's beautiful," Hiyono said, referring to the scenery. Ayumu nuzzled her neck.

"Just like you," he whispered.

_Once more you open the door  
And you're here in my heart  
And my heart will go on and on_

"So what will we do now?" she asked in a short whisper.

"Same thing we always do. Solve mysterious. Live." An old chapter was closing and another one was about to begin. They stood their, just listening and feelings the words to the song.

_Love can touch us one time and last for a lifetime  
And never let go till we're gone_

_Love was when I loved you  
One true time I hold you  
In my life we'll always go on_

"Would you like to dance?" Hiyono smiled and nodded. Ayumu put a hand around her waist, and held her hand in his other. The two pressed their bodies close together.

_Near far wherever you are  
I believe that the heart does go on  
Once more you open the door  
And you're here in my heart  
And my heart will go on and on_

"Can this be our song?" Hiyono asked. He nodded. The couple stopped dancing and just held each other close.

_You're here, there's nothing I fear  
And I know that my heart will go on  
We'll stay forever this way  
You are safe in my heart and_

Hiyono gazed into Ayumu's eyes. Closer and closer they moved their lips until they were touching. This was Heaven.

_My heart will go on and on_

FIN


End file.
